An Open Letter to the Republican Party

You have failed us yet again. I’ve not been proud to cast my vote for a Republican president since Ronald Reagan. I was okay with Ford, Bush I, never a fan of Bush II, and was really not a fan of Republican party presidential nominees such as Bob Dole (an admirable man, but not a president) or John McCain (who was my choice back in 2000 and I did vote for him in the primary, but his “maverick” stuff just made him wishy-washy to me).

We are no longer the party of Ronald Reagan and we will never be, and the sooner we face that, the better. Politically, the majority of this country are centrists, though you hear the most squawking from the far left and the far right.

The reason I still identify Republican is the party’s fiscal stance, and the desire for smaller government. And I think that is the most attractive thing about our party. But the rest of the stuff our party “stands for” is what has cost us dearly.

True, it’s single-issue voters and un- or under-educated voters who really mess things up. If I thought Roe v. Wade was going to be in danger of being overturned, I’d have just not voted. If I thought Romney was going to “go after” gays, I would have not voted.  I honestly believe he would have been too busy working on the economic mess we are faced with.

But those single-issue voters pretty much always will go Democrat because of the perception “Democrats are for personal freedoms.” Oh will you see how erroneous that belief is as the next four years unfold. We have a president who doesn’t hesitate to use executive orders to get what he wants. In effect, he’s little more than an elected dictator.

What does my party, the party of my father, and his father, my grandfather and his father, have to do to be successful? It’s quite simple. We need to butt out of people’s personal lives and work to ensure equality for all. And by “all” I don’t just mean minorities. I mean our GLBT friends, sisters and brothers. We need to let Roe v. Wade be the law of the land, and allow women the freedom to choose to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester. Yes, many of you believe this is murder and goes against what the Bible says. And that’s your right to believe that, and I will not try to talk you out of it. But inflicting your belief on me is just plain wrong. And that’s what’s wrong with our party. Out of one side of our mouths we say we are for personal freedoms, and then out of the other side we say, “Well, except gays are evil and an abomination, and an abortion is killing a baby. But the death penalty for murderers and the most horrible criminals is okay.” 

We need to butt out. Personally, I would rather the government pay for an abortion than 18+ years of welfare. I also believe that if the government does pay for a woman’s abortion, that the first one is on us—the second one is cause for a tubal ligation, period. Welfare is a way of life in some populations, and that’s simply unacceptable, too. The only way that’s going to change is by preventing reproduction. Some of those people don’t want to work, and think they are due something simply for being American (or having an anchor baby who unfortunately is “born” American).

We need to allow GLBT people the exact same rights as heterosexual people have, and let them make the same mistakes! I don’t believe allowing gays to marry (okay I’ll let you call it a civil union as long as the rights are identical to marriage) costs us any money, so fiscally it makes sense. If we are lucky, couples will spend their hard-earned dollars on nice wedding ceremonies, and they will go on to raise children. They will get divorced and have child custody fights just like heterosexuals do. They will be allowed to make health care and end-of-life decisions for their spouses, just like heterosexuals.

We need to be the party of budgets and fostering policies that encourage small businesses to thrive. We need to have a strong, prepared military, and also honor and care for our service men and women, their families, and veterans. We need to NOT butt into other nation’s “civil wars,” and we need not be world police anymore. We have allies, and we need to stand by them. We need to do what we can to keep the United States what she used to be. We need secure borders and limited immigration.

Really, it’s all quite simple. I don’t mind if a candidate believes abortion is wrong, or doesn’t think gay marriage is the will of God. But we have something called separation of church and state, and our state says it’s legal. If he or she cannot be an advocate, just shut up and at least do not obstruct efforts to allow for gay rights or work toward making abortions unavailable. Let each state handle it, and stay out of it and do the job a president is supposed to do!

Yep, I’m dreaming. Rubio 2016.