Why #NeverTrump Should Be A Unifying, Non-Partisan Movement

A friend asked why I thought this year’s campaign will be the nastiest in American history. This is based on the idea Donald Trump becomes the nominee, which is looking more likely with each passing primary. So here are my thoughts.

Trump is expanding the GOP base with folks the party doesn’t want. He’ll be ruthless against Hillary and the decades old Clinton machine will throw everything they have at Trump, as they should. And you may even have Republicans working behind the scenes for Clinton because a Trump presidency would destroy the party and seriously damage the America we all know and love. Brokered GOP convention? Not a chance. There’s no way the party could survive that chapter by playing into the hands of those who cry “establishment.”

So how did we get here? I attribute this to a few things, knowing full well my perspective is that of a pragmatic liberal Democrat (who once worked for the Republican Party and even ran for office under that Big Tent).

First, the poor choice of Governor Palin as a VP nominee. She gave voice and legitimacy to the fringe that followed.

Second — on the first day of President Obama’s term — when GOP leaders met and crafted a simple strategy of obstruction. Their very successful plan was to oppose every single thing President Obama did or proposed in an effort to delegitimize the hope his election promised. Party before country has been the GOP’s motto since Obama Day 1 and will continue when the Supreme Court ends his term with one less Justice. Barack Obama also happens to be our nation’s first black President. You decide if that’s coincidence.

And finally, and most significant, the over exaggeration of the GOP’s principle of limited government. It was hijacked by right-wing zealots and transformed into an anarchistic view that government should have no part in the betterment of society other than to ensure an over abundance of personal wealth. But in fact, that limited government principle was replaced with theocratic values — values that encourage hate and fear. Values that have made race-bating, Muslim bashing and frat house insults the norm at GOP stump speeches. It’s why thousands cheer when the probable Republican nominee yells at the top of his lungs “that wall just got ten feet higher.”

That “me vs. us” mentality is why I left the Republican Party years ago and why that once great organizing force for democracy is being pissed on in front of cheering crowds by a dangerous egomaniac.

Maybe for the first time since their founding, two opposing parties will somehow unite to ensure the fragile concept of democracy millions have died for, won’t be placed in the hands of someone who is inspired by Hitler’s writings, quotes Mussolini and claims ignorance about what the Ku Klux Klan stands for.

This is why Election 2016 will be one for the history books.