America needs a GOP of principled leaders
A few months ago, I wrote in these pages to explain why, as a Republican voter, I supported Joe Biden for president. The feedback I received is heartening because there are so many people, especially in Texas, who want what I want: a healthy Republican Party and leaders we can feel good about supporting. I’m not giving up on my party, yet.
Unfortunately, there is not line of sight to a principled Republican Party. The current cohort, including our own Sen. Ted Cruz, is bent on chasing culture wars and baseless election fraud claims for as long as it keeps them in power. It is easier to maintain power by energizing passionate radical wings of the party and pounding the table against “socialism” than it is to govern and wrestle with the issues facing the American people. The Democratic Party is similarly guilty of using a broad brush with accusations of “fascism.”
But let’s be clear — one of these parties is in worse shape than the other. You can check the scoreboard to see the shape the Republican brand is in. You can look at Georgia. You can look at the insurrection of Jan. 6 and the Republicans in Congress who were complicit in inciting those who stormed our Capitol. The reason for this is simple: The Republican Party is largely absent accountable leadership.
Many Republicans today are using Biden’s call for unity as cover to avoid the political unpleasantness of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. They say voting to convict Trump, no matter the evidence, would enrage his base and further divide the country. Republicans say this because it is the easy thing, not the right thing to do. The hard thing to do is often the right thing to do, however, and in this case the hard thing is naming the truth. This hard thing is the path to unity and a healthy Republican Party.
Americans deserve leaders who are truth-tellers and willing to admit they took their flame-throwing politics too far when they supported lies that inflamed an angry insurrectionist mob. Unity looks like Republicans in Congress acknowledging the past president’s reckless crusade to stay in power led to an insurrection against the body in which they serve. To promote unity is for those that parroted the president’s “stolen election” lies to fess up.
Based on the track record of the congressional GOP, the path to unity outlined above seems fantastical. In fact, all but five GOP senators voted on Tuesday to dismiss the impeachment trial altogether. While those five GOP senators are bright spots, they are outnumbered. There is little chance today’s GOP leaders find moral courage now given their many prior failures to do so.
But America needs a healthy Republican Party. Fiscal responsibility, the sanctity of life and principled American leadership around the globe are important cornerstones of what it means to be a conservative in America. That is why it is critical to have leaders with integrity championing these causes. We need leaders who will reject conspiracy theories, not give them airtime. We need Republican leaders who will actively purge white nationalists from the party, not give them cover.
The way to break the cycle of irresponsible leaders exploiting the party’s radical wing is for moderates to become more energized and overwhelm the radicals. While being reasonable is a trademark of being moderate, it is exactly passion among the reasonable that this situation calls for. Old fashioned, George H.W. Bush conservatives must put their foot down with force and reject the games Cruz is playing. We must vote in primaries. We must draft young, talented, principled leaders to public service.
Most importantly, we must not subjugate principled leadership to our favorite issues. Principled leadership should be the hallmark of conservatism, both in word and deed. Let Jan. 6 be a reminder that our elected leaders bear responsibility beyond energizing the wings of the party that keep them in power. Our representatives are charged with keeping this experiment in self-governance alive and healthy. They will not do so until we hold integrity in leadership above partisan cause.