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How conservatives vote in 2018 could determine whether the GOP maintains control of Congress and whether the Republican Party completes its transformation to the Party of Trump. In Indiana—with the GOP holding seven of nine U.S. House seats and a supermajority in the Statehouse—conservatives (especially women) have the power to either embrace Trump’s values or reject his corrosive “us vs. them” politics.
The stakes for the nation, our state and our two political parties couldn’t be higher. The outcome of the 2018 election will determine whether we retreat further into the abyss of anti-intellectualism, intensified culture wars, self-dealing corruption and bigotry that are at the core of Trump’s values.
Among the consequences: erosion of our financial security, weakening of our democratic institutions (especially law enforcement), degradation of our environment, and decline in our role as leader of the free world and champion of human rights and the rule of law.
The alternative is to check Trump’s values and give our nation and its two political parties enough time and space to regroup and chart a path forward that preserves American values. The challenge for both parties is to figure out how to balance individual rights with a social contract that promotes mutual obligations in the new era of globalization and automation.
So far, Republicans in Congress have refused to come to the rescue of either their country or their party. Our seven representatives, along with Sen. Todd Young, have kept silent despite widespread Cabinet-level corruption; persistent divisive stoking of the culture wars; the erosion of affordable health care; failure to defend the nation against Russian cyberattacks on our electoral system; and Trump’s lack of any moral compass (as evidenced by his embrace of racism; his pathological lying; his inhumane immigration policies; and his refusal to listen to expert scientific, economic or diplomatic advice).
A divided federal government at this moment in our history is the only mechanism to hold the president accountable, check his abuse of power and limit further damage by Trump’s ill-considered, radical policies.
Both political parties, but especially the GOP, desperately need the time and space to regroup. The parties need to formulate a new social contract for the 21st century that responds to the legitimate fears, anger and discontent of voters, and that charts a path forward that preserves American values. For the GOP, defeat in 2018 is necessary to resolve its identity crisis and recapture the soul of the party from Trump.
For those conservatives and Republicans who are uncomfortable with Trump’s values and are conflicted over his radical policies, there is only one right choice for the 2018 election: Elect Democrats as an emergency safeguard to check his abuse of power. This is necessary to buy enough time and leverage for the GOP to escape from the triple traps of Trump’s tribalism, authoritarianism and unilateralism before it’s too late.
Unless conservatives vote to elect Democrats in 2018, the odds are that the Republican Party will remain fractured and out of power for a generation. And the prospects for rebuilding the GOP on a foundation of traditional community values of empathy, honesty, faithfulness, fairness and friendship will remain unattainable.•
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Zwirn is a retired health care executive and lifelong independent.
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