Hello again! A couple weeks ago, I asked for your help. You see, I’ve been getting fundraising emails inviting me to join the "Republican Advisory Board." I don’t actually think this is a real advisory board, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. I wanted to know: What advice would you give to the Grand Old Party?
I got a lot of responses—most were serious and thoughtful, and surprisingly few were profane. Our readers want Republicans to take climate change and gun violence seriously, to stop persecuting LGBTQ people, and to protect our democracy. But there was one theme that appeared more than any other: The GOP needs to "dump Trump."
“Stop backing Donald Trump,” wrote Rex. “The party's acceptance of his many controversies, legal issues and unprofessional communication habits makes the entire party look bad (and corrupt).”
Laura was particularly eloquent in describing her frustration over Trump’s hold on the party—but she still has hope:
You've had multiple chances to rid yourself of [the] fascist wannabe, but somehow (even after inciting an insurrection) you are still defending his every move, his constant racist and hateful rhetoric and his nonstop flouting of our laws and institutions. You know what he is, and he isn't a "leader" of anything but a cult of personality and yet you repeat his lies…But why don't you prove us all wrong and stand up to this petty tyrant and tell us all that you're finally done defending the indefensible. Wouldn't that be a glorious feeling for all of you?
Many of you named other Republicans—a few living, but mostly dead—who you thought would do a better job leading the party. “The Republican Party needs to return to the respectable days of Eisenhower and even Reagan,” wrote Nora.
“Hold a convention on what the party is to stand for,” suggested another reader. “Will it be…the likes of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Nelson Rockefeller, for example, or power hungry demagogues like Donald Trump?”
A few readers had a more cynical take. “Hey GOP…keep doing what you do until after Pres. Biden’s second inauguration,” wrote John, “then forever RECOGNIZE AMERICA 4 WHAT WE REALLY ARE.”
So what do you think? Will Republicans ever be able to extricate themselves from Donald Trump? Do they even want to? And would it actually help? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
—Jeremy Schulman
