Saturday, May 24, 2008

I recently received a letter in the postal mail. It was from the Republican National Committee soliciting a donation. It started out asking if I had abandoned the Republican Party. It struck me as a thoughtful question, so I wrote a letter back to the RNC with my thoughtful response. Here’s my letter. Consider it an open letter to the RNC:

Tim Morgan
RNC Treasurer
310 First Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
Dear Tim,

In your recent solicitation you asked, “Have you abandoned the Republican Party … Have you given up?” It was a thoughtful question and deserves a thoughtful response.

And my thoughtful answer, right now, is that I’m not sure, but possibly. The more important question for me, right now, is has the Republican Party given up on me?

By way of context, I have been a lifelong republican. My father was a lifelong republican and served in Montana’s legislature as a Senator. I have held fiscally conservative views and values for as long as I can remember. It is clear to me that the Party has given up on fiscal conservatism, at least when judged by its actions.

As a businessman, I have held pro-business views and values for as long as I can remember.  While it may not have given up on this, the Party has proven ineffective at developing the kind of bi-partisan collaboration that will preserve a pro-business environment in the US.

In the brief history of the US, our country has stood for what’s right. Through our role in the world wars and subsequent rebuilding, we have earned the respect of the world. With our steadfast support of inalienable human rights, we have refrained from bullying the world, and increased the world’s respect for us. With our focus on innovation and invention, we have led the world in creating a vibrant and entrepreneurial economy second to none, engendering incredible respect. The Party has squandered the currency of world respect with its bullying, and torture and democratic imperialism.

In the past, the country held to a steadfast foreign policy. Other nations of the world could count on our steadfast behavior. And while we might disagree, our positions were well reasoned, consistently applied, and the country was reassuringly predictable. The Party has failed this tradition and can’t seem to get out of its own way anymore. The country has become dangerously inconsistent, which understandably causes other nations to fear our bi-polar behavior, fear the potential for retribution, fear the inconstancy of our support, fear they will become the object of American bullying.

Our country was founded on the premise of religious freedom; freedom for all to pursue the religious traditions of their choice. The following words are engraved on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC:

“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief. But all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion.”
The Party has failed to live up to these ideals. Worse, the Party has acted to countervene these principles and has become a political advocate for the Christian right.

It is the role of government, and thereby the role of its elected members to secure the safety and freedom of the country. George W. Bush, as our President, is the representative of the Republican Party. He and the Party, because of the failings above, have left this nation less safe, less secure, and certainly less peaceful than the country they inherited nearly eight years ago. The Party has failed to live up to its stewardship responsibility to leave the country in better shape than when they received it.

Perhaps unreasonably, I expect the Party to take the long view when it comes to issues which threaten the country. The Party has become dangerously short sighted. For example, possibly the most significant issue facing us is energy independence. The US must find a way to reduce to near zero our reliance on carbon-based fuels. We must make the investments required to invent and commercialize renewable energy sources – solar, wind, tidal and hydrogen. And in the interim, we must make a very substantial 50-year commitment to nuclear – to give invention and commercialization time to work. The Party is focusing too little attention on this issue. The cost of this failure will be $40 / gallon gasoline and World War with China before 2050!

I believe our government, at least its Executive and Legislative branches, have failed in the most profound way to seek what’s best for this country. The Party has failed miserably but they have not failed alone. So too has the Democratic Party failed in this manner. The Party has failed twice, spending the currency of cooperation with and respect for their Democratic colleagues.

Just to be clear, when I refer to the Party, I am referring specifically to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, members of the Cabinet, Party leaders in Congress, and Party Senators and Representatives who are failing to represent me. I voted for George W. Bush, twice. He and his government are an embarrassment, to me personally.

You asked if I had given up on the Party. I have certainly given up what might have been considered blind faith in the Party.

The Party has an opportunity to regain my respect, and even my support. Let Senator McCain’s candidacy show us how the Party will atone for these failures. Let it show us that the behavior of a possible future government will restore America’s credibility in the world. Let it give us confidence it will face the big issues the country faces with an open, honest face and an objective respect for the facts. Let it show me a plan to regain the world’s respect. Let it demonstrate that America can be safer and more at peace in four years, and in eight.

It is not only the Republican Party that has this opportunity. So too does the Democratic Party and whichever of its two leading presidential candidates might prevail during the primaries. The candidacy of Senators Obama and Clinton preach a litany of hope in a Democratic presidency and are generating high expectations for change. But Democrats and their candidate should take caution. If a Democrat is elected and if he or she fails to live up to these now-higher expectations for positive change – the backlash will be incredible. It will constitute a political tsunami which will sweep Republicans back into government for decades. 

Respectfully,

Feel free to use any or all of this, in a letter to the candidate (or party) of your choice. In fact feel free to send this to anyone you wish as a link or via copy and past.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Politics
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