The Party I Would Attend
President Trump won four years ago because he recognized the fear growing in the Midwestern blue collar worker while the Democrats took them for granted. He lost because his unwavering pandering to that “base” was overcome by Republicans who believe he wiped out America’s heart. He lost not due to “fraud” or Democrats switching sides, but to Republicans who figured him out. He is not a dictator, nor a traitor. He is fundamentally a narcissist, as graceless in defeat as he was in victory.
The Republican Party used to hold certain core principles, among which were spending and taxing less while serving the world as the model of strength through capitalism and democracy — Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill.” Indeed, which world governments other than ours “shut down” their operations while disputes between representatives about how much money to spend on this or that are resolved? What dominant civilizations of the past have expended resources and lives in capturing territory from despots only to return it willingly to the locals and go back home? America’s record is nowhere near perfect here, but the answer to that question is “none,” at least before we arrived on scene.
Yet these were not the core principles that President Trump upheld. He spent more than any previous President, increasing our national debt by almost 36%. He did not project strength on the world stage — the most fundamental of all job functions for a President. China is stronger now than four years ago. Kim Jong Un is still in power and ISIS is alive and expanding. So is the coronavirus. America has gone from being dismissed globally to being loathed.
Instead, based on his special, most acute case of narcissism, he’s put himself above these core Republican principles. Trump trumps.
Narcissism as a trait of politicians is not new. In fact, we all want to feel special, to be loved, and to stand out from the crowd. It’s my belief that God created us with a hole in our heart designed to be filled by Him, but people often choose to fill it with other things. For some, it’s food or alcohol. For others its money or power. For the actor or the politician that hole is often filled with the adoration of millions of strangers. Trump’s need to be loved, respected, adored and obeyed — to fill that hole in his heart — is more important to him than his Party, its principles, and ultimately, its voters.
He filled his heart by stealing ours.
However, as people joyfully pick plots for his political gravesite, I feel sad. I learned long ago that tearing down the old thing is not the same as building up the new thing. I worry about the opportunists who see an opening to turn their ideologies into policies that further divide what is already divided. You cannot build a government on “I hate Trump.”
Instead of partying, I am asking “where is the party I would attend?” The Republican Party used to be about fiscal conservatism and aspirational global leadership. It used to be about “tear down this wall” and “the people who knocked down these buildings will hear us all soon” and “that the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” As the leadership of the Party became more cynical and self-centric, they left the majority of Americans — and me — behind.
Can there be a Party of the fiscally reserved yet socially accepting? Can we agree that we must stop our deficit spending while still seeing and celebrating the worth of each person, no matter what their gender, color or sexual identity? If there were a group who could simultaneously accept each other as humans while understanding our responsibility as Americans to ourselves and to the world — now that would be a Party I would attend.
