CONNOR HOFFMAN
Managing Editor
This current election and the rise of Donald Trump has really made me challenge my beliefs and question if being a Republican is what it once used to be.
Ronald Reagan switched from being a Democrat to being a Republican in 1962, and he explained that “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.” That quote has really struck with me throughout this election because the Republican Party has become an utterly unfamiliar mess.
Ever since the 2008 election, the first time I fell in love with politics, I have been a solid and loyal Republican. For all of 2009, I watched the news and read tons of political books to learn more and more about the current issues we were facing. I watched in horror every day the liberal policies Barack Obama was proposing.
Fast forward to the 2012 election, I had thought that Romney could pull himself together and come out with a win, but sadly, he lost to Obama. At this point, I knew that the 2016 election would be completely in the bag for the Republicans.
I came into 2015 with so much excitement and optimism for what the Republican field would offer for the upcoming 2016 election. Beginning in the summer, we heard announcement after announcement of talented legislators and governors running for the nomination. It would end up being around 16 serious candidates. There’s always been long-shot celebrity candidates that run for the nomination in an effort to get a book deal or increase their brand, and it looked like at this point that Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Trump were those such candidates.
I 100 percent misunderestimated the strength of Trump. I predicted that his high numbers in the polls were just a result of his huge brand name, but as we see now, that wasn’t the case. The media was too focused on all the views Trump was bringing them and led to the rise of Trump.
After Iowa, the primary just become painful to watch. I had to watch day after day as Trump utterly destroyed what my party has stood for. The party of Reagan slowly died this primary and became the party of Trump and division.
I truly became a Republican after I read Reagan’s autobiography “An American Life,” and so we must look at the huge differences between Reagan and Trump to see how far my party has left me.
Reagan was warm, charming and, above all else, kind to people. He even came up with the 11th Commandment for Republicans not to attack fellow Republicans. Trump constantly attacked his fellow Republicans throughout the primary with nicknames like “Lyin Ted” or “Little Marco,” and he even went so far as to accuse Sen. Ted Cruz’s father of being responsible for the assassination of JFK.
Perhaps the biggest difference between these two, in my opinion, is their starkly different visions of America. Reagan was a very positive person, and he saw a shining city on the hill. Trump is the complete opposite of this, and he constantly paints America as some war-torn country that is falling apart.
Also, Reagan was a true gentleman, and we would never hear any of the language that Trump uses to describe women come out of Reagan’s mouth.
Another huge difference between the two is the level of their polarization. Now, the increase in polarization is not directly Trump’s fault, but he has unleashed polarization like never before seen. Trump openly talks about putting Hillary Clinton in prison, and he always claims the election is rigged against him. Reagan would never have personally insulted or called for either Jimmy Carter or Walter Mondale’s imprisonment.
The Republican Party must change its ways if it hopes to ever win the presidency again. Trump is in for a complete landslide loss to Clinton on Nov. 8.
I am still a registered Republican. I’m willing to give the party another chance, but we must repudiate Trump’s corrupted and distorted version of Republicanism. I will not stand by a party that embraces Trump’s horrible ethics and horrible policy ideas.