2022-11-12
GOP Needs To Be About Conservative Ideas, Not Donald Trump
All indicators are pointing to Donald Trump being indicted. Despite this, he also is planning on announcing his 2024 candidacy for the Presidency at a rally tomorrow (2022-11-15). When he does, he will be the undisputed front runner in the Republican Primary. His campaign will mark 8 years of the GOP being distracted from evangelizing its conservative ideals by the drama and cult of personality fostered by Donald Trump himself.
As you can tell by my tone, I am not happy about the prospect of a third Trump presidential campaign. While I greatly approve of many (but not all) of his decisions as President, his narcissistic attitude, childish drama, and unforced political errors have left me exhausted. Also leaving me exhausted are Trump's die-hard supporters who are entirely responsible for maintaining Trump's political power and supporting his cult of personality over the Republican Party.
But not only am I exhausted, I am also becoming gravely concerned for the future of our conservative ideas.
Last week, I wrote that the Pro-Life movement was getting utterly destroyed because they can't effectively communicate why it's wrong to kill a human being. I didn't connect this to Donald Trump, but for 8 years, nobody outside a handful of us religious ideologue holdouts has been discussing abortion. No mainstream Republican since Rick Santorum in 2012 has really made ending the culture of death an important part of his or her campaign. Donald Trump's policies, especially in nominating Supreme Court Justices, did advance the pro-life cause in government; which is more than any of his predecessors can say. However, his silence on the issues and his insistance on always having all eyes on him, for better or worse, is largely responsible for a generation of young Republicans who largely either don't care about abortion or, at best, can barely hold a conversation about it.
Abortion isn't the only topic we're losing hearts and minds on, though. Do you remember when the Republican Party used to promote local government, limited government, and responsible spending? It seems like an instance of the Mandela Effect today after everything that's happened the past 21 years. Donald Trump increased the national debt by nearly 8 TRILLION dollars in just four years in the White House. Some of that was the pandemic, but most of it was before the pandemic.
What are Republican issues in the age of Trump?
- Election fraud
- Liberal media bias
- Extramarital affairs
- Impeachments
- Crime
- Illegal Immigration
Of these, Crime and Illegal Immigration are the only true "issues." However, crime is a local issue that has very little to do with national politics. Illegal immigration is all that's left at the national level.
Donald Trump has reduced the national Republican Party to a one issue party.
Thankfully, at 76 years old, Donald Trump is not going to have control over the Republican Party for much longer. Likewise, his MAGA candidates failed miserably in the 2022 elections, so his legacy in the halls of Congress will likewise be very limited.
Although I don't think Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would be my first choice for the Republican nomination; he and Marco Rubio have proven they can run inspired campaigns, help Republicans down the ballot, and win on conservative ideas rather than cults of personality. Ron DeSantis might be the perfect candidate to get the Republican Party off its Trump addiction.
