What’s a Classical Liberal to Do? Oppose the GOP

Do not vote for Republicans nationally until they openly challenge Donald Trump. Until larger numbers call for and endorse a primary challenge to Trump, and until Republicans in the House and Senate begin to rebel against Trump’s most outlandish behaviors, not one vote should be cast for a Republican candidate.

Unlike others, I’m not calling for the election of Democrats, though that will be the likely outcome of opposing Republicans. I cannot vote for either party in good conscience. I believe, deeply, in voting my conscience to register that point of view with leaders. If you do not vote based on what you support, how will officials ever come to know what voters want?

There are good arguments for voting for Democrats, and I respect those. I simply disagree because voters must register dissatisfaction with both parties if that is what they feel. Divided government is best, in my view, so I would not be upset if Democrats captured the House. We need brakes on the political system — especially right now.

I’ll vote for other candidates because I dream of having more choices. Short of that, I dream of the implosion of the Republican Party in its current form.

I did not vote for Donald Trump, which my blog posts before and after the election attempted to explain while I warned that Trump could win. The Republican Party did not do enough to stop Trump, despite the handful of #NeverTrump figures. Even his primary opponents in the GOP were quick to either embrace or at least avoid angering Trump.

Nobody claiming either traditional GOP or libertarian values can legitimately defend and support Donald Trump. This should include every member of the GOP in Congress, but the ugly reality is that too many Republican officials represent everything that decency and classical liberalism oppose. Today’s GOP, a monster birthed in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, is a creature of South, the Evangelical movements, and resentments from various real and perceived abuses of the federal government.

The GOP made a deal with the devil and Trump was a logical (if disgusting) outcome. Call it dog whistles or willful ignorance, calls for state’s rights, free speech, and local control were too often heard by and embraced by bigots. The political consulting class knew this, particularly Lee Atwater. State’s rights and local control appealed to Western voters (like myself) and Southern Whites for different reasons. Some of us heard legitimate classical liberalism, while we failed to speak out loudly enough against the horrible humans abusing the rights we defend.

I’m registered to no party, and for good reason. The major parties don’t represent my core values and the Libertarian Party is not entirely from the same “libertarian” school of thought that I embrace. Differing on the ownership of natural resources and being an environmentally concerned member of society doesn’t align with some elements of the party. However, at least the Libertarian Party is somewhat closer to my views.

Polling suggests 58 percent of Republicans support Donald Trump’s policies on immigration and trade. I cannot comprehend this abandonment of core values within the GOP. More than 40 percent of Americans approve of Trump. His polling averages are similar to the last five presidents at this point in the first term. How is that even possible? Because GOP voters compare him to what they perceive as a bad alternative: the Democrats.

Trump is the anti-elitist protest vote. He’s anger and childish tantrums. He’s voters telling us they hate everything and would rather support Trump than someone perceived as not listening to the rural and exurban experience. And, let’s be clear, Trump also attracts racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, and everything else bad in society, like pheromone dipped flypaper.

Trump embodies both justifiable anger at elites and their politics and hate-driven fear. Assuming only half or even a third of Trump voters are genuinely hateful people, that’s a disgustingly large number.

In the upcoming 2018 national election, I am hoping Republicans remain in control of the Senate and that the House flips to Democrats. Data suggest that is possible, but I fear the GOP might hold both houses of Congress based on current regional polling data. (Avoid national generic data: it doesn’t reflect the 7 percent advantage built-in for the GOP based on population densities.)

I am a pessimist. One party is led by a dangerous man and the other risks embracing an equally disturbing populism. These are disturbing times for many concerned citizens, not only classical liberals. I hope sanity prevails.