A guest opinion from John V. Buffington
Insurgent Ignorance
There is new proof of American Exceptionalism. A candidate who has adopted the persona of an egotistical, bombastic, protectionist, belligerent, immoral, mendacious ignoramus has reached the point of threatening the very existence of the Republican Party. Now that Donald Trump has deluded a large plurality of naive voters who have had a say in the Republican nomination process to date, his agents have assured the Republican National Committee that everything that he has said so far is a joke.
Senator Cruz, on the other hand, represents a well-established segment of the GOP. Nihilists and racists emerged from their holes as soon as it became apparent that a black man might become president. They love the idea that their candidate will never compromise. Not with Democrats, not with Republican party leadership, not with anybody who isn’t dedicated to starving the federal government, shutting down every support for anybody who isn’t rich and beating up on immigrants.
Pennsylvania Republicans who would like to go on putting up possible candidates after the inevitable debacle in November will, of course, vote for governor Kasich in the primary on April 26th. That, however, is not enough.
If you want to vote for the actual nomination of Senator Cruz in the belief that bringing government to a halt is desirable, exactly one candidate on the second congressional district ballot for convention delegate is committed to your choice.
If you think that the vote in our district in the beauty contest will go your way, one candidate for delegate has pledged to vote for whoever gets the most beauty contest votes.
If you like Trump you may want to follow the recommendation from his campaign to vote for the other five candidates, who have refused to commit to a candidate on the first ballot.
If you enjoy assigning your franchise to political bosses you will vote for that same list of political cyphers.
If you favor Governor Kasich, either because someone who has actually done stuff in office other than break furniture might work out a bit better than a crazy person, or because you think that he is the least bad choice, you will want to write in “none of the above” on the portion of the ballot pertaining to convention delegates.
If you would like to wrest your franchise from party buses, writing in “none of the above” is your best option.
Our country has recovered from worse than Trump and senator Cruz can dish out and it will do so again this time. Without Trump in the race, one of the more conventional politicians would be the clear nominee by now and would have a good shot in November. The lingering question now is whether there will be enough of a Republican presence to contest mid-term elections in 2018 or some new coalition will begin to form by then or Democrats will just walk away with nearly all of the marbles. Please make your choices on April 26th carefully.
I consider myself a recovering Republican. We Republicans fairly consistently embraced a libertarian view on social issues until Ronald Reagan, our first divorced president, drew the Evangelical Right into the party during the 1980 campaign.
If Trump and Senator Cruz succeed in destroying the Republican party as we know it, a period of Democratic party dominance will ensue, of course.
If I live long enough to see the emergence of a socially libertarian, fiscally conservative party with a realistic restorative view of international Affairs, I will Jump right In.
Author’s Note
This article is the first in the series that will continue until after the Republican National Convention and or until Trump’s dark brown pile ceases to fester on our National white sofa.
John V. Buffington
All readers are welcome to submit opinions or rebuttals. Email gil@frankfordgazette.com
