Where did the GOP Go Wrong?
Part 1: Trump is not an aberration. He is an exemplar.
There are good Republicans. There are Republicans who are disgusted with insurrection and conspiracy. There are Republicans who hate Trump with a passion. There are Republicans whose only reason they keep the label and vote for Republican candidates is simple habit or a fear of the available alternatives. A lot of them were (and are) members of my family. When I was a very young child, long before I had any idea of what politics was (let alone a political party) I had a grandfather who, usually teasing and perhaps occasionally in anger, had a pejorative he would toss at the kids. We didn’t know what it meant, but it was obvious from the scorn in his voice that it was something we would never want to admit to:
“You’re a Democrat.”
“No, we’re not,” we’d swear. “We’re good. We’re Republicans, like you and mom and dad, like every other person in the room.” We didn’t know what a Democrat was. We had no idea what one looked like. We only knew that it was bad.
My father was a proud Republican. He was also a good man. He was a principal in the inner-city schools of Saint Louis. A big man, he was quiet and strong. His presence was a little bit intimidating. He was also kind and open and hated the racism and poverty he saw every day…
