Haley Out: Time For The Uneasy Alliance

The sane right, center, and left need to unite in defense of our way of life

Oh how I miss those days, when two generally sane parties would gather and argue about policy differences. Smart debates with one side arguing for government as an essential part of our lives, and the other arguing for a smaller role. Two generally good faith arguments with passionate advocates on each side. Our general outrage was reserved for our enemies overseas, and life went on.

In the last eight years especially, good faith arguments have been replaced by emotional culture wars, and the Republicans, pretending to still care about philosophical differences, have walked away from many sensical negotiations or outright deals. The fundraising machine needs outrage, and solving problems eliminates anger points.

With Nikki Haley out of the race, the disappearing minority of well intentioned Republicans have a choice: capitulate to crazy, or ally with the former adversary. It’s important for people to understand that this is, in fact, a difficult choice for many. Even in Congress, as I saw the arc bending towards the insane, I still for a time, chose to fight for the team. Eventually, I reached a red-line, and made a decision that our way of life and nation itself was in peril, and I needed to swallow my pride and join my former rivals. After all, Democracy is a fight worth our lives, we are lucky when we only have to sacrifice our pride.

Political identity is powerful. Years ago, it was simply a preference, like drinking Coke or Pepsi. I remember as a young tike, teasing my friends who had a Bill Clinton sign next to our Bush sign. But there was no impact on our friendship. My parents still like theirs, and we still played together. Even when I ran a pretend “Republican HQ” in my room, the Dems would come by:

Today however, everything from our social circle, to hobbies, and even faith, are wrapped up in our political identity. Friendships have self-sorted and relationship have been strained or outright broken over differences. Making a decision to ally with the Democrats, for a sane Republican, is much more difficult than people understand. I’ve been through it, it takes a mental and emotional toll. I’ve had friends divorce me over text, drunken tirades, and even my Co-pilot from Iraq told me he was “embarrassed to have served with me.” Wow.

The problem is, every one of us who made the decision, have been met with some questioning “why it took so long,” “do you still believe….?” and “how could you have ever….” The temptation for some is to react to these attacks with dismay, and return to the group that accepts you, the Republicans (they’re eager to forgive, a superpower). It takes much energy and steadfastness to weather these criticisms and persevere.

Ultimately, these attacks are unfair, and self defeating. The Democrats do not control 53 percent of the population, the number they usually need to overcome disadvantages in the electoral college. They need, especially in 2024, independents and disaffected or homeless Republicans. So what do we have? We have, as I’ve referred to it:

An unnatural and uneasy alliance of freedom loving Americans.

Yep. Unnatural, and uneasy. It just takes one off the rail argument to blow the whole thing up. So for this moment, let’s focus on where we agree: Donald Trump is a cancer on our nation, and a stain on our reputation and history. Let’s grant some grace to the latecomers, and welcome them with enthusiasm, not scorn. Let’s add to our numbers and win this battle.

In Ukraine, the saying went: “Put two Ukrainians in a room, and they’ll start three political parties.” Yet when their freedom was threatened, they joined together to fight the evil invader. While our nation may not be under external threat, we are under threat from the inside. Let’s show the next generation that we can put differences aside when we must….and we can defeat the evil within. A small sacrifice compared to our friends in Ukraine. Will you join me?

After all, I can’t wait till we can go back to disagreeing over the same issues we’ve been arguing since our founding….over a cold beer as friends.