This is my response to Justin’s essay “My Viral Tweet“, in which he contemplates leaving the Republican party.
This is an opinion submission from a reader like you, part of a growing conversation about political affiliation and the future of the Republican Party. We encourage submissions from all perspectives in this most poignant of discussions.
I went through the exact same grieving process he did, only mine was almost exactly four years earlier. I physically joined the campaign of Ted Cruz (whom I distrusted then, and despise now), in Maryland and Indiana, in a last-ditch effort to stop Team Orange. I knocked on doors, and even did phonebanks, something I would never have done if the situation wasn’t so desperate. When my former fellow Republicans so spinelessly handed him the nomination, I walked away, and never looked back
Sometimes friends and family asked me “Wouldn’t you rather stay in the party, to influence it in the right direction?” I replied as follows:
“The party didn’t listen to me in the entire run-up to the election.
“I quit my job (in Japan!) and flew halfway around the world to campaign against Donald. The party didn’t listen.
“I threatened that, if Donald got the nomination, I would walk away. The party didn’t listen.
“In light of everything that’s happened, with the party bending over backwards to do that awful man’s bidding, what makes you think that they will listen to me now?”
This is not a situation in which cooler heads will prevail. It’s a sinking ship, and I will not go down with that ship.
Like Justin, I too had a “viral” moment on social media. This post, from July 25, 2016, was my single biggest ripple in the pond. Of course, my prediction of Donald’s loss was wrong, but in every other aspect I think I nailed it.
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Dear GOP,
I’m leaving you, and I’m taking my vote.
You have let me down for the last time. I stood by you all those times you were unfaithful to me during the last eight years: when I needed you to be strong in opposing Obamacare, you were nowhere to be found; I depended on you to resist the Supreme Court nominations of Kagan and Sotomayor, but you always found it easier to go along with the crowd than honor your vows to defend the Constitution. I always took you back because, unlike you, my word means something, and besides, what other party was there?
But now it’s different. This infatuation with your sweet-talking new suitor is the last straw. You like him more than you like me? He can have you. Just remember, I warned you for years what he’s like: he uses people. He will lavish attention on you until he gets what he wants, and then he will spit you out and toss you aside. When he does, don’t come crawling back to me. This is goodbye.
I think what bothers me most is all the times I defended you against what I thought were unfair attacks, and now I find that, at least in respect to this race, the accusations are true. When Democrats called you “the party of rich old white men”, I told them “No, it’s the party of hard-working, red-blooded Americans.” You prove me wrong, and your critics right, by choosing the richest, whitest old man of them all to lead you. And do you know where he is right now? He’s sitting in his gold-plated penthouse, laughing at you. I can’t blame him.
For my entire life, liberals have called you “the racist party”, and I answered “No, the party that celebrates the participation of Herman Cain and Tim Scott and Ben Carson is not the racist party.” Except your current hero is a man who says all our problems are caused by people who don’t look like us, and speak a different language, and worship a different god. He called Mexicans “rapists” and “drug-dealers”, and wouldn’t trust one to be his judge. And you chose him over me. So now, yes, you are the racist party. That just makes breaking up with you all the easier.
Likewise, Democrats have called you “the sexist party”, and I always said, “No, the party that honors and respects Phyllis Schlafly and Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter is not the sexist party.” But now you have climbed into bed with a playboy who married and divorced a succession of trophy wives, who consistently judges women based on their looks, brags about the sexual conquests he’s made, and belittles those who don’t submit to him with demeaning terms like “bimbo.” You want him? Then you ARE the sexist party. And this is how I find out. Just don’t be surprised when he treats you the same way after he’s had his way with you.
The fact that Phyllis Schlafly and Herman Cain and Sarah Palin and Tim Scott and Ann Coulter and Ben Carson have joined you in this betrayal? Doesn’t make it okay. It just makes it sting worse.
The one that hurts the most is how liberals have always called you “the stupid party”, and for once, I have no answer. I warned you and warned you that he’s a con man, yet like every con man who ever lived, he told you exactly what you want to hear, and you believed him. You have fallen into line behind a man who, far from sharing your convictions about taxes and gun rights and abortion and the whole deal, directly contradicts them. The man you chose to fight your battles for you is a physical, emotional, moral and intellectual coward. Let’s be honest. That IS stupid.
And that’s not good enough for me. I’m better than that. We get the leaders we deserve, and I deserve better than you.
Are you worried about November? Tough. Afraid you can’t win without me? Should have thought about that back when I still cared if you win or lose. When Hillary wins (when, not if) I will fight her agenda. Which is more than you’ve done lately, and for as long as I can remember. [Justin suggested this tweak to make it more contemporary: “Whichever Democrat wins the 2020 race, I will fight the liberal agenda. Which is more than you’ll be able to do after this presidency. -RiJ]
I’m tired of doing all the work in this relationship. That ends now.
I’m going to take my vote and give it to someone worthy to be my president. When I choose to join a political party again, it will be a party I can be proud of. That category doesn’t include you, and never will again.
Goodbye forever.
RichardinJapan
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Richard in Japan is the nom de plume of Richard Schwartz, America’s greatest living unproduced screenwriter, he lives and works as an English teacher in Tokyo. You can follow him on Facebook.
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