Within the Republican Party a fierce debate is raging over the whether to accept Donald Trump as its presidential nominee, or start a conservative third party whose nominee would be someone presumably more representative of the party’s pre-Trump conservatism.
At last week’s convention in Dallas of the Texas Republican Party, which I attended as a delegate from the Erath County Republicans, I found resigned acceptance and even some lukewarm support for Trump, notwithstanding the fact that he had routed Texas Republican hero Ted Cruz in the primaries. One of Trump’s more prominent supporters, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, speaking before the convention delegates yesterday, argued that Trump supported many conventional Republican positions on immigration, on abortion, and on taxes. Other Republicans said that while they were not pro-Trump, they were pro-Republican and anti-Hillary, and would therefore probably vote for Trump in the general election. Some strategists—and Trump himself—further argue that he’s attracting into the party a new class of voters—white blue-collar males—and this will make the Republican Party more competitive in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and even New York.
But prominent Republicans, including the Bushes, Paul Ryan, John Kasich, and Ted Cruz, have refused to date to endorse Trump, and others, including Mitt Romney, are seeking to create a conservative third party. They’re concerned that Trump’s lack of popularity with women and Hispanics will bring defeat in November. Moreover, they do not trust Trump to advance conservative values—for most of his life Trump has been a Democrat and a supporter of the Clintons; his newfound conservatism seems insincere, and is diluted with his opposition to free trade and entitlement reform.
Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus has said that to launch a third party movement would be a “suicide mission.” He’s been denounced for putting party above principle or country, but he does have a point.
No successful third party has emerged in America since the Republican Party itself arose out of the political turmoil of the early 1850s and replaced the Whigs as the second of America’s two political parties (after the Democrats) in the congressional election of 1854 and the presidential election of 1856. Since then, no party other than the Republican or Democratic Party has won the presidency or a majority of seats in either house of Congress, or with one exception, a single vote in the Electoral College. The best showing of a third party’s presidential candidate since the rise of the Republicans was in 1912 when former President Theodore Roosevelt, trying to return to the White House, won 27% of the popular vote, and six states with a total of 88 electoral votes, as the nominee of the Progressive Party. In fact, Roosevelt actually did better than the Republican nominee, incumbent President William Howard Taft, who won only 23% of the popular vote and two states with a total of 8 electoral votes. But New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson won 42% of the popular vote, and 40 states with a total of 435 electoral votes, and the presidency itself for the Democrats.
Moreover, the obstacles to any third-party movement today are daunting. The election laws make it far more difficult for independent and third party candidates—a “third party” is any party other than the Democratic or Republican Party—to get their names on the ballot or win financial support for their campaigns. The federal government, for example, offers financial aid to seekers of the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, as well as to the nominees themselves in the general election campaign. While Republican and Democratic candidates are increasingly rejecting government aid (which comes with limits on how much money can be raised or spent) in favor of unlimited private financing of campaigns, at least the aid is available. It is not so available for third parties and their candidates. And this is to be expected—ALL campaign financing laws are written and passed by legislatures in which 99% of the members are either Democratic or Republican lawmakers.
So a third party movement seems impractical at best, and unlikely to succeed. But that doesn’t mean it should be abandoned. Conservatives who believe that participation in such a movement is the best way to remain true to their principles should follow their consciences—and accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions, including the almost certain triumph of the Democrats this November. But those who are not yet prepared to leave the Republican Party should, if they cannot support Trump, nonetheless do their best to help other Republican candidates for office survive the tidal wave of defeat many Republicans fear is coming. If one is a patriot of good will, then acting on one’s beliefs, whatever the outcome, may make one morally and intellectually better for the effort.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville and taught politics and government at Tarleton since 1987. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990 to the present). He was Mayor Pro Tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He is a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Stephenville Rotary Club, and does volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
Be the first to comment