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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy I Quit The GOP - Trump is simply the worst president our country has had -- ever.
Michael J. London
Tuesday morning, I stopped at the Trumbull town clerks office and did something that I never thought I would do. I resigned from the Republican Party and registered as an unaffiliated voter.
I was letting go of a lot of history. I have been a loyal member of the Republican Party for most of my adult life. I have been a member of my local GOP town committee for many years and I have been elected, as a Republican, to the Trumbull town council five times. I served, as a Republican on other local boards, as well.
I would tell you that Ive been a model Republican. I believe in smaller government, tight budgets and lower taxes. I believe that helping business grow is good for our economy. So it is with great dismay that I find I can no longer be part of the Republican Party. It is no longer the party that I believed in all these years.
I blame President Trump for turning the Grand Old Party into a lame, extreme right-wing group of people unwilling or unable to see the truth. But Trump is not alone in causing my disillusionment. I have had it with the state and federal branches of the Republican Party that tolerated the presidents behavior. None of our GOP candidates for governor denounced Trump. None of the leaders of Connecticuts GOP will speak out.
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http://www.courant.com/opinion/insight/hc-op-insight-london-leaving-gop-20180827-story.html
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,298 posts)roamer65
(36,739 posts)That is what disillusioned Repukes need to do that party.
Funtatlaguy
(10,856 posts)...its just temporary....and Im sure they still vote for Repubs.
Im impressed by Repubs that become Dems. Those have TRULY seen the light.
gabeana
(3,166 posts)TimeToGo
(1,366 posts)But right now we are in a battle. Conversions are rare and difficult -- this shift is a good thing even if not a perfect thing.
JHB
(37,132 posts)You believe in "smaller government"? Why, and what exactly does that mean? And do you mean the same thing with that same phrase as billionaires do? And if not, whose view do you thing will prevail if "government" is small?
Same thing for "tight budgets". The last wheezing gasp of Republican fiscal responsibility was GHW Bush going back on "read my lips, no new taxes" because the 1986 rates were unsustainably low. It's Dick Cheney who said "Reagan taught us that deficits don't matter." Why did you wait for Trump to quit?
Same thing for "lower taxes". During the Eisenhower administration there were 24 tax brackets. If you adjust for inflation, 2/3rds of them kicked in at taxable incomes above $250K. 11 of those kicked in above $500K. The top rate kicked in at income above $3.5 million. By Obama's administration your party had reduced it to 6 brackets, all under $500 K and only one above $250K. Obama wanted to add another one in the over250-under500 range, and your party called him "socialist".
Trump did not turn the Republican party into a "lame, extreme right-wing group of people unwilling or unable to see the truth." Trump is the sagging roof that makes the termite infestation undeniable. But the roof doesn't sag like that unless they've been at work for a long time. Long enough that it probably includes your entire career.
You spent your lifetime watching the Party of Lincoln be turned into the Party of Ahab, Mr. London. How often did you even notice? How much of that time did you spend cheering?
Vote Democrat, Mr. London. If you can't bear doing that, you're a Trumper, not an American. Go home to Russia.
Leith
(7,802 posts)I wholeheartedly agree.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,039 posts)There are millions who need that reminder and admonition.
ToTheStreets
(24 posts)It is not just Trump. It is the whole GOP that is rotten to the core. They are simply a bunch of treasoness pigs. And their base is, as Hillary put it, deplorable.
thegoose
(3,115 posts)My first vote was against Ronnie Ray-Gun in 1980 and I've been appalled by these fucksticks ever since. There's a ridiculously large percentage of the populace continuously thinking the Pukes want to "help" them, and now their slavish devotion to the Dumpster is the worst. Jesus.
Initech
(99,915 posts)Gets to claim that we're disrespecting the presidency or our country ever again. As long as Orange Douche and the Russian treason party are running things. They've lost it forever.
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)If we want to do long-term damage to the Republican Party, Democrats must hammer home the message that the rise of Trump (and the enabling of Trump) or someone like him was the inevitable result of 50 years of Republican rhetoric and policy. With an immense amount of help from an irresponsible infotainment industry that chases ratings, promotes false equivalencies, denies responsibility for fact-checking, and often implies that every statement is an equally valid opinion (there are no facts, there are no lies; there are only opinions), all in the name of boosting profits and not upsetting advertisers. It's not enough for a few pundits on MSNBC or CNN to state the obvious.
When Trump is gone, I guarantee you that the dominant narrative will be that everything is hunky-dory, that Trump was merely a bump in the road. Unless Democrats preemptively establish a different, more honest narrative.
The Republican Party has fomented and exploited racism (including xenophobia), sexism, religious bigotry, jingoism and extreme selfishness for decades. The pre-Trump Republican Party is directly responsible for Trump. They need to own that, which the anti-Trump Republicans who appear on TV or who are retiring from Congress aren't doing--they're all pushing this idea that the pre-Trump Republican Party was just fine. When in reality they need to make drastic changes or close shop and let a new party fill the void.
If Democrats don't start hammering home that message (which, yes, involves taking the media to task via the media...something Republicans started doing decades ago to great success) and take control of the narrative, the post-Trump Republican Party and the media will claim all is well because we've returned to "normalcy." As if that's acceptable. As if everything was just fine pre-Trump. As if the Republican Party hasn't long been built upon a foundation of bigotry, greed and lies. As if the Republican Party hasn't long been morally and ethically bankrupt. As if the Republican Party hasn't relied heavily upon race-based gerrymandering and voter suppression. As if the "liberal media" lie of the last 30+ years wasn't bullshit from day one.
It would be a mistake to think the Mueller investigation and removal of Trump and convictions for other Republicans will be enough to destroy the Republican Party as we know it. Memories and attention spans are short. Democrats must establish the dominant narrative, or Republicans will. And repetition is utilized for a reason. It works, and it's necessary. Make Republicans own the monster they've created. The monster isn't Trump but the environment that gave rise to the Republican Party of Trump.
Michael London is in denial, and Michael London will go right back to being a Republican post-Trump.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,129 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,548 posts)the policies they have wanted all along.
EricMaundry
(1,619 posts)Funtatlaguy
(10,856 posts)Courage is looking at lifelong habits and realizing they were wrong.
lindysalsagal
(20,440 posts)Not getting out the violin.
tavernier
(12,322 posts)and the continuing death toll from that well planned lie. Trump has yet to murder as many humans as Bush/Cheney.
I think Ill pass on congratulating him for his sudden insight.
D23MIURG23
(2,833 posts)He's just the natural conclusion of everything they've been doing since nixon. The only thing that really separates trump from people like mcconnell and ryan is that the latter two are capable of acting like adults.
Good though that trump is helping some people see the truth about their party. Its fitting to finally have a wanna be mob boss running the largest criminal organization in the country.