On Becoming a Lapsed Republican

For most of my life I was a registered Republican.

There. I said it. Confession is good for the soul.

So what happened?

Until 2012, I was what used to be called a Rockefeller Republican. I was conservative on the size of government and public spending, and I was a moderate on social programs. My graduate school training in Public Policy caused me to view social programs with skepticism that focused on actual outcomes and verifiable societal returns. I believed in the superiority of the marketplace over collective local, state, or federal action.

I truly believed in cost-effective social networks to extend a hand to those deserving of opportunity and assistance. I did not believe in programs perpetuating intergenerational poverty and deprivation.

I’m a direct beneficiary of some of these public programs. I attended and graduated from public schools. I attended public institutions of higher education where public expenditures made tuition affordable. I drive on roads that others built and I ride on public transport at a fraction of the true cost.

Of course, I pay a lot of taxes for the privilege. I am happy—or so I tell myself—to do so.

What happened in 2012? I left the Republican Party for life as a former Republican and now a political Independent.

There was much to like about Mitt Romney. He did some notable things in public life. He alone recognized the former USSR was still a global threat as the new Russia. But Romney was a cynic when it came to the 47 percent of Americans who he claimed would never vote Republican, in general, and Romney, in particular. So screw ‘em he told us. Well, not literally, just figuratively.

Ironically, Romney was one of the first to play exclusively to his base and the hell with everyone else. True, he never claimed he could shoot someone in broad daylight without suffering the consequences. But what he did do, in my opinion, was lamentable. He wrote off a large part of the American electorate. He said in effect, why bother? He further factionalized our politics.

Fast forward to 2016, 2018, and now the 2020 general election.

I do still believe in collective action, like roads and public transport and defense. I still believe the tools of applied economics serve a useful purpose in evaluating proposed and actual social programs. I still believe you can rationally explain why some facts are, well, factual. And, I admit I cannot wrap my head around what some folks call “alternative facts.” Counter arguments? Yes, of course. Alternative facts….

My old Republican Party left me. True, I jumped off the bandwagon in 2012. But I felt I had no other choice.

The new Republican Party has abandoned long-held positions on deficit spending and deficits. Same with small government. And the social safety net has become public welfare for large corporations and the truly wealthy. The growing divide between the few wealthy among us and the rest of our fellow Americans troubles me. As do claims of “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts” and playing solely to one’s base and the hell with everyone else.

The Republican Party made me an offer I could refuse: You’re either with us or against us.

I’m no longer a Republican, but I remain an American.

Copyright 2019, Howard D. Weiner