These thoughts are from DJ.
***
The Republican Party is dying. The party is not yet fully dead, but it’s definitely knocking on death’s door. The only thing keeping it alive is the good souls left in the party. And if they were to leave, then the party will truly be dead. Until then, the plug hasn’t been pulled yet.
But the biggest problem with the GOP is not that these souls don’t want to leave. It’s that the GOP throws some of them under the bus for others. It’s that the GOP seems stuck in an everlasting state of “This is fine”.
The party also doesn’t uphold any real policies. The GOP’s main policy is “Better than the Democrats”. Well… Considering the Senate and House have stood down when fighting the Democrats more often than not- that’s not very true.
(Side note. I don’t blame the congressional GOP for not passing bills- Obama is in office. I understand that. It’ll be difficult to get him to sign it. But what’s bad is they rarely try to make him sign it. I’d be happier if they actually tried to do stuff instead of just asking for the White House.)
The party has abandoned Conservatism, Constitutional Conservatism, Libertarianism, and Conservatarianism in favor of Centrism, and Center-Rightism. This is well known based on the power Mitch McConnell, Peter King, John Cornyn, and Kevin McCarthy have over Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Justin Amash, Rand Paul, and Jim Jordan.
The Republican Party was given an easy mission in 2014. With the Senate and House in hand, advance Conservative causes and make Obama have to vote on them. This was an easy mission. And they failed.
In my opinion, this is the remedy for the disease currently killing the Republican Party… Change the party’s direction. Get rid of the many bad apples. And make sure you put the good ones on top.
Of course, the party doesn’t seem to want to do this. And because of that- the party will pull the plug on itself.
The party has until January to decide if it wants to live or not. That is when the Chair of the GOP will be elected. There are two candidates I’m looking at right now:
-Incumbent Reince Priebus
-2016 Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina
There’s also the possibility of someone else coming in, but at the moment these are the two big names on everyone’s lists.
If the party chooses to pull the plug, it will reelect Reince. He will continue down the same path, anger the same people, and see the Conservative movement leave the party for good. And honestly- even if Reince doesn’t run, if anyone that’s been in the higher ups of the party for years is elected the same will likely happen.
If the party chooses life, it will elect Carly. She can work with both the grassroots and the donors. She’s shown that- being a CEO of a major company definitely opens a lot of doors for her. She could bring the money into the party while also not throwing the grassroots under the bus.
The party has a few months to live. It can either get a medicine that will make it last a little longer- maybe long enough to get cured. Or it will take the cyanide capsule.
Let’s assume the party does die. What steps up to replace it?
I’ve decided to list the new leadership that should be in charge of the new party. This isn’t an easy task at all. But it’s one that I think we must look into.
Party Chair: Carly Fiorina
Carly would be the natural choice for chair. A major grassroots advocate and a woman with a talent of attracting donors, it’s hard to see why she wouldn’t be a good choice.
Senate Leaders
-Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz’s history leads him to be the natural choice for the party. Despite his recent endorsement of Trump, he’s never really given us a reason not to include him in a new party.
-Mike Lee
Mike Lee is arguably the most Conservative man in the Senate- to not include him would be a crime.
-Rand Paul
Rand Paul’s Libertarian history provides a good expansion to the tent, without going too far.
-Marco Rubio
Rubio provides a more Moderate view point, while also being able to bring donors into the party.
-Ben Sasse and Tim Scott
These two are more “Also in the party” leaders. Both could help Conservative causes quite a lot in the Senate, though neither has been major advocates for change yet outside of Sasse’s NeverTrump stance (which one could argue isn’t quite enough).
House Leaders
-Justin Amash
Amash is an easy choice, being one of the most Conservative members of the House.
-Ron DeSantis
DeSantis would provide a military background to the party.
-Jim Jordan
Jordan has been a good leader of the House Freedom Caucus, so it only makes sense to keep him on board.
-Dave Brat, Trey Gowdy
Honestly these two are more “Also leading” Representatives. Nothing major to add here.
Gubernatorial Leaders
-Greg Abbott
Abbott has been a great Conservative governor, so it’s a no brainer here.
-Matt Bevin
Bevin has been a decent governor and has a Conservative mind, so including him would be a good idea.
-Nikki Haley
Haley is a good Governor and has a Conservative head, so including her is a no brainer.
-Scott Walker
I really don’t need to go far into this one, do I?
Other Major Players
-Jim DeMint
-Tim Huelskamp
Of course there are other people who could be included on the list, and there would need to be a lot of state parties set up- not to mention establishing the party’s stance on issues.
But this is a start.
I will admit I hope the GOP makes the right move in January. But I’m not holding out hope. If they want to change, I’d suggest looking at this list. If not, we must form a new one.
