The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
The Republican Party is faced with an enormous challenge in the next federal election. What has transpired in the Grand Old Party during the past four years, and especially since the Capitol Assault on January 6, necessitates some major decisions by the Republican leaders in Congress, the National Committee, and by the Republican organizations in all fifty states.
After Donald Trump became president, a sizeable percentage of Republican voters moved toward hard-right political positions, and others became devotees of various conspiracy theories, especially those popularized by the now infamous QAnon. The challenge is this: Can the party entice these voters back toward traditional Republican values and principles, or should the party disavow the Members of Congress or other prospective primary challengers who refuse to condemn the Capitol Assault of January 6 and who continue their support for the former president?
It is a delusion to refuse to admit openly that Donald Trump and his most ardent supporters have split the Republican Party. The GOP does not have an elephant in its room; instead, it has a contagion far more deadly than COVID-19.
Since January 6, Republicans in general have shown themselves unwilling to face their dilemma head-on. It is ultimately a conundrum of its own making, because the party leaders did not loudly speak out in the presidential primary by disassociating itself from Candidate Trump. They knew who he was, but they stood idly by while he seduced his way into the primary victory and then into the presidency.
Now the GOP is faced with a far more lethal problem. Trump has thrust the Republicans into a classic lose-lose situation. If they take the Lincoln Project–Liz Cheney-Mitt Romney path, they think they might save their soul but lose millions of hard-right voters. If they take the Marjorie Taylor Greene-Ted Cruz-Jim Jordan path, and display tacit support for extremists by choosing not to condemn them, they might lose many (dozens? scores?) of seats in the House and Senate, and they will have lost their soul to a dangerous but large fringe of voters who feel disenfranchised by both political parties.
Of course these calculations may be entirely incorrect. It is conceivable that the future of American politics is quickly falling into the tight grasp of hard-right extremists. If so, America will lose its democracy as well as its historic soul.
Sadly, the Republican Party is confronted by a terrible dilemma. It has unwittingly contributed to that dilemma, while heretofore disengaged outsiders have gotten into the GOP tent and are threatening to take it over. Every American who has not been swept into the extremist-right camp waits for the GOP to decide what the party will do. If they continue to do what they have been doing, which is far too little, they may find themselves a party without few principles and few people.
If the GOP does not quickly decide what path to follow, it may diddle itself into oblivion. Were that to happen, America will be the loser. – January 6, 2021
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.