Can the REAL Republican Party be saved?

by Margaret Gorski, Stevensville

 

I want to thank Susan McCreary for her April 5 letter “Destroying the real” where she laments the effect that “ultra-right cults” are having on the Montana Republican Party. 

In highlighting some of the current struggles within the Republican Party, she really got me thinking about the role of party politics. What good are they anyway? It seems that we are only interested in the party “winning” instead of solving our collective problems. In today’s polarized society do they serve any useful purpose? 

Political parties were not created by the Constitution. So, if you ascribe to a Constitutional Originalist philosophy, you would be working toward abolishing parties altogether. But I believe it would be more fruitful to improve what we have. Our two parties have evolved over the years and, up until now, have worked fairly well. They helped ensure that voters’ voices were heard because our elected officials were willing to compromise to meet people’s needs. Both major parties worked hard at balancing the various voices within their ranks and documented their priorities in their party’s platform. The challenge has always been how to put a check on the intransigent party outliers? To address this situation, the current National Democratic Party Platform is 92 pages long and basically promotes working on behalf of all Americans, responding to our nation’s complexity and reflecting the diversity in our country. Sadly, it seems that the National Republican Party has abandoned any effort to be more inclusive within their party as their 2020 platform shrank to a one-page resolution in support of Donald Trump’s America First agenda.  

Excluding the wider spectrum of Republican voters has perhaps contributed to the current struggles in our local Montana Republican Party. According to Ms. McCreary, members of the John Birch Society, the Libertarian Party (founded by the Koch brothers) and the recent “Tactical Civics” movement working within the Republican Party apparently are engaged in “name calling and slander” and are “trying to destroy our Montana State Constitution…to give them the POWER as citizens to govern any citizen they do not agree with!” She points out that they are “very dangerous, leading a mob that has no thinking power or ability to stand alone.”

As someone who has run three times for the State Legislature on the Democratic Party ticket, people assume that I fully support all aspects of the Democratic Party Platform. However, there are many policies and party priorities of the Democratic Party that I don’t rank extremely high. There are some voices within the party that make me cringe. Nonetheless, I accept that Democrats have a “big tent” and that anyone seeking office needs to represent all interests within the party. I choose to remain a Democrat because, by and large, I believe in our vision of being inclusive and working to make everyone’s lives better. Should circumstances change, I know I can walk away, join another party, become an independent, or form my own party. No matter how difficult that might be, it is the freedom our system offers each of us. 

It’s sad that both of our major political parties have become so polarized and so negative. It appears to me that especially within the Republican Party there are those who would rather point fingers and shout to get their way than to listen and seek solutions. Such extremism has gotten to the point where I just want to walk away. But what good would that do? We need to find answers. After all, policy is written by those who show up and I can’t just walk away.  When Benjamin Franklin was asked after the Constitutional Convention if it resulted in a monarchy or a republic, his oft quoted response “a republic… if you can keep it” rings true today. 

Although there are parties other than the Republicans and Democrats, for all practical purposes the United States operates under a two-party system and, at this point in history, it would be unwise to make major changes. If we set our minds to it, we can still make this system work. We can do this despite our nation’s size, diversity, and complexity. But we have to work together, try to see each other’s viewpoints and be willing to COMPROMISE. Otherwise, we won’t keep our republic as Franklin warned.

Ms. McCreary has clearly expressed her frustration that ultra-right wing “political cults” have captured her party. But she can do something about it. She and fellow “real” Republicans have the freedom and opportunity to lessen the extremist influence on the Republican Party’s’ priorities. But it will take everyone of a like mind to work together to return the party to advocating for “traditional” Republican values. 

Ms. McCreary, you are making a good start by daylighting what is happening within the Republican Party. I hope you can convince others to share your views. And remember, that if the Party no longer reflects your priorities, you can always walk away. I hope you succeed because we need our two-party system to work. Good luck.