How about a GOP Party?
Lead Summary
By
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By Charles Leach
Lynchburg
The primary process is all but over in both parties, leaving Democrats with a candidate with a negative approval rating with the general public and what has become the Republican Party sharply divided – perhaps destroyed – and a candidate with the lowest approval rating ever for a presidential candidate.
There is even talk among so-called establishment Republicans of mounting a third-party campaign for the presidency with supporting a “true Republican” instead of Donald Trump.
This brings into question what a true Republican is.
For generations, the GOP was proud to call itself the party of Lincoln, the great emancipator who freed the slaves. It was the party that consistently fought for civil rights and against Jim Crow laws and wasn’t the party of the Southern strategy and restrictive voter and restrictive voter registration laws.
Once, the GOP was the party of Teddy Roosevelt, who instituted the national park system to preserve natural lands for future generations. It was not the party intent on selling them off to the highest bidders.
Once, the GOP was the party of Eisenhower, who oversaw the initiation of the interstate highway system, the largest public works project in history on which our economy was largely built; instead of the party cutting taxes for the entities capable of paying for its upkeep.
Once, the GOP was the party of principled, economically sound progress, with representatives who worked with Democrats to make necessary changes until the Tea Party voted these representatives out in primaries and replaced them with non-representatives dedicated only to shrinking the government down to a size that could drown in a bath tub.
Once, the GOP was the party of William Buckley, who eloquently expressed conservative theology to people capable of grasping ideas beyond what could be expressed on a bumper sticker – and not the party of people whose whole stance on life can be summed up by the phrase “drill baby, drill.”
Well, I have a suggestion that would end the ongoing divide, not only of the Republican Party but that has become a chasm in the halls of Congress and the Senate.
All of you disenfranchised Republicans who have been kicked out of office by the choreographed turnout of angry anti-government people in primaries and all of you Republicans who have been forcing yourselves to mouth the red meat junk that the angry people feed on, get together. Call yourselves the GOP and nominate Colin Powell and work to get him elected. With his 77-percent approval rating compared to 44 percent for Clinton (and even lower for Trump) with the general public, it shouldn’t be hard.
After presumed victory, we would have a Republican president that Sen. Mitch McConnell presumably wouldn’t be making a one-term president his first priority, if indeed he is still majority leader, and who a Democrat majority leader would presumably love to work with given Powell’s support of Obama.
The same willingness to work with the president should be true for Congress and there should be the start of a carryover to working together between both sides of the aisle.
Perhaps that might even be the start of a death knell for the control of primaries by right wing radicals and the return of government of for and by the people instead of government by people who want to shut government down and offer no alternative.
It is said that a fish starts to rot from the head. Perhaps a the process of un-rotting starts from the head as well, and in the case of government let us hope so. Given a non-partisan president perhaps non-partisanship can trickle down, starting with not automatically voting against a president's Supreme Court nominee. Given a government that starts working again, the ranks of angry anti-government voters turning out at primaries just might be quelled.
So neither a Democrat or a Republican would win.
Since both parties have become pretty much nothing but fund-raising machines, I’m OK with that and it might send them a message. Get back to winning elections by serving the public rather than by raising money.
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of everything being viewed as red or blue, Democrat or Republican, public opinion for or against. Let’s get back to right or wrong, true and false, good or bad, as best as can be determined.
Lynchburg
The primary process is all but over in both parties, leaving Democrats with a candidate with a negative approval rating with the general public and what has become the Republican Party sharply divided – perhaps destroyed – and a candidate with the lowest approval rating ever for a presidential candidate.
There is even talk among so-called establishment Republicans of mounting a third-party campaign for the presidency with supporting a “true Republican” instead of Donald Trump.
This brings into question what a true Republican is.
For generations, the GOP was proud to call itself the party of Lincoln, the great emancipator who freed the slaves. It was the party that consistently fought for civil rights and against Jim Crow laws and wasn’t the party of the Southern strategy and restrictive voter and restrictive voter registration laws.
Once, the GOP was the party of Teddy Roosevelt, who instituted the national park system to preserve natural lands for future generations. It was not the party intent on selling them off to the highest bidders.
Once, the GOP was the party of Eisenhower, who oversaw the initiation of the interstate highway system, the largest public works project in history on which our economy was largely built; instead of the party cutting taxes for the entities capable of paying for its upkeep.
Once, the GOP was the party of principled, economically sound progress, with representatives who worked with Democrats to make necessary changes until the Tea Party voted these representatives out in primaries and replaced them with non-representatives dedicated only to shrinking the government down to a size that could drown in a bath tub.
Once, the GOP was the party of William Buckley, who eloquently expressed conservative theology to people capable of grasping ideas beyond what could be expressed on a bumper sticker – and not the party of people whose whole stance on life can be summed up by the phrase “drill baby, drill.”
Well, I have a suggestion that would end the ongoing divide, not only of the Republican Party but that has become a chasm in the halls of Congress and the Senate.
All of you disenfranchised Republicans who have been kicked out of office by the choreographed turnout of angry anti-government people in primaries and all of you Republicans who have been forcing yourselves to mouth the red meat junk that the angry people feed on, get together. Call yourselves the GOP and nominate Colin Powell and work to get him elected. With his 77-percent approval rating compared to 44 percent for Clinton (and even lower for Trump) with the general public, it shouldn’t be hard.
After presumed victory, we would have a Republican president that Sen. Mitch McConnell presumably wouldn’t be making a one-term president his first priority, if indeed he is still majority leader, and who a Democrat majority leader would presumably love to work with given Powell’s support of Obama.
The same willingness to work with the president should be true for Congress and there should be the start of a carryover to working together between both sides of the aisle.
Perhaps that might even be the start of a death knell for the control of primaries by right wing radicals and the return of government of for and by the people instead of government by people who want to shut government down and offer no alternative.
It is said that a fish starts to rot from the head. Perhaps a the process of un-rotting starts from the head as well, and in the case of government let us hope so. Given a non-partisan president perhaps non-partisanship can trickle down, starting with not automatically voting against a president's Supreme Court nominee. Given a government that starts working again, the ranks of angry anti-government voters turning out at primaries just might be quelled.
So neither a Democrat or a Republican would win.
Since both parties have become pretty much nothing but fund-raising machines, I’m OK with that and it might send them a message. Get back to winning elections by serving the public rather than by raising money.
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of everything being viewed as red or blue, Democrat or Republican, public opinion for or against. Let’s get back to right or wrong, true and false, good or bad, as best as can be determined.