Beyond R and D

Labels don’t always tell the story

Until all this Trump business, Ronald Reagan easily sat in a place of high honor among adherents of the GOP. He was revered among the greatest leaders of the party. Republicanism was Reagan and Reagan was Republicanism.

We do remember that Reagan was, once upon a time in Hollywood, a Democrat. After the scales fell from his eyes, he was fond of relating his shift to the Republican Party this way: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.”

There’s no way Reagan today would be a member of the Democratic Party, but he most assuredly would have a difficult time embracing the Donald Trump-fixated GOP. After all, the TGOP really doesn’t adhere to core values as much as it does a transaction-based persona.

For an example closer to home, think of former state Sen. Jim Hendren of Benton County’s Sulphur Springs. In 2021 he departed the Republican Party and became an independent. His evaluation at the time? “I haven’t changed. My party has,” he said.

Hendren’s decision came as the final term of his uncle, Asa Hutchinson, was winding down. Hutchinson was ultimately replaced by Trump acolyte Sarah Sanders. Hendren, as he announced his switch, decried the Legislature’s inability in many cases to function for the people of Arkansas in part because lawmakers were more loyal to party than to the state or its citizens. The parties — Democrat and Republican — encouraged and rewarded party loyalty too often, he said, and weren’t as concerned with the value of public service to address Arkansans’ concerns and needs.

All this bubbled to the surface the other day as we read in the news pages about a concern expressed before the Benton County Republican Committee. House candidate Joshua Hagan of Centerton warned committee members the county is at a pivotal time when it could “ease back into being a blue county again.”

No, he didn’t mean sad. He meant Democrat, which come to think of it, many Republicans might say is the same as sad.

Hagan, taking part in a candidate forum, said Democrats haven’t given up on Benton County and are instead “playing the long game” as the county becomes more urban.

Newer residents of Arkansas might not realize Benton County was, back in the day, just about the only spot in Arkansas that could be viewed as reliably Republican. The state was dominated by Democrats, albeit mostly conservative ones, for decades. Asa Hutchinson’s 2023 hand-off to Sanders was the first time a Republican followed a Republican in the state’s highest office since post-Civil War Reconstruction in the 1860s and 1870s.

Hagan’s warnings aren’t to be dismissed. Benton County, and in particular, Bentonville, are changing dramatically as people flood into the region for jobs at or related to Walmart Stores Inc.’s headquarters there. Sam Walton, founder of the retail behemoth, probably wouldn’t recognize the place if he were still making the rounds to all the company’s stores.

At first blush, Hagan’s comments might be interpreted as suggesting the election of a Democrat (gasp!) would be the worst possible outcome for the people of Benton County. You might have heard that we live in a divided nation, and it’s certainly plausible to suggest, as Hendren did, that finding common ground between members of different political parties is viewed too often as a form of treason. Heaven forbid that a member of one party might actually be friends with someone of the other party.

It is not the worst-case scenario that someone from that other party might get elected. The least desirable outcome is the election of someone who is largely indifferent to the will of the people, who proposes or supports legislation contrary to the interests of most Arkansans and who cannot conceive of compromise except to view it as forbidden fruit.

Hagan, naturally, warned that Benton County Republicans should be wary of complacency. That’s wise advice. And so is the rest of what he said, according to the news report. Hagan urged voting for the best-qualified candidates to serve the county’s residents.

That’s as far as he went, and let’s be careful not to put words in his mouth. But we will add that voters of both parties do themselves a disservice anytime they vote solely on the basis of an “R” or “D” beside a candidate’s name on the ballot.

Voters should, instead, spend the time and energy to get to know the candidates, then support the one(s) who most clearly have the interests of the community they’ll serve at heart.

We don’t fault the parties for wanting to win. That’s what political parties do. For them, a member of their own party who can barely fog a mirror is a better choice than a thoughtful, community-oriented leader who happens to bat for the other team.

Arkansas voters, though, serve themselves best when they avoid party-based voting and instead consider which candidates are well-rounded and reasonable as well as capable of finding solutions to the challenges facing Arkansas. Anything less is a recipe for failure.

It really doesn’t take long, when examining candidates from both parties, to figure out which ones are sincere in their desire to serve the public and which ones are partisan “Stepford Wives.” Such candidates can be found in both Republican and Democratic circles.

Neither party has a lock on righteousness. Parties are useful to help people get elected, but they can create train wrecks when it comes to governing. Just look at the U.S. House of Representatives of late.

Ask not what your party can demand of you; ask which candidate has the intellect and leadership skills to make the future better for everyone.

Our communities, state and nation can thrive in today’s chaotic divisiveness for only so long. We’ve survived because the Founding Fathers managed to create a resilient system of government, but how much more can it realistically take?