Dear Conservatives: You need to do better.

Trust me, guys and gals, I know a thing or two about being competitive. I’ve been playing competitive games, sports, and debating for most of my life. Win or lose, I love it. But I love winning. I don’t have any participation trophies and I don’t give a damn if I gave my best effort in a loss. There’s nothing that lets you feel quite so alive as being able to say that you won, and that you put effort and fervor into doing so. It’s part of the reason we love war (we haven’t lost one since the 70s and that doesn’t really count anyway), football, and televised debates. It puts everything into easy to digest perspective in times where everything is gray and scary and unknown.

So I can appreciate the tone a lot of conservatives like to take when discussing politics. It’s about winning, knowing that your side has been represented and that that you’ve carried the day. And it’s not just about winning. It’s about dominating. Crushing defeat for your enemies. That reassuring feeling that the effort you put in had merit, was absolutely the right thing to do. And lately, that tone has been reinforced by the unlikely gains made by the Right.

The problem comes when putting this into practice in the political sphere. Sure, it’s about winning, making sure you get into office so that you can make changes or maintain what you feel is the right thing. But more importantly, it should be about representing everyone you mean to rule once you’ve gotten to the top. Even those that didn’t agree with you. Now comes the hard part. Ensuring that you’re ready to do the work.

That’s where you need to do better, Conservatives.

I’m not talking to some of you. In fact, many are probably already ignoring this or even are typing responses that have the term “liberal tears” or some such nonsense. That’s fine. You’re entitled to feel the way you feel, no matter how petty and small. Wave your flag and don’t give another thought except to the next tweet or facebook post. You’re not making anything better and if you’re alright with that, that’s fine. I’m not your dad.

The rest of you, though. You know this whole situation is wrong. You know that the current state of the conservative agenda has nothing to do with smaller government, weeding out corruption, or doing what’s right for all the people of this great nation. This was about winning. It was about a tone long set by those in conservative media, and it’s been adopted by those who are making decisions that directly affect you.

This current agenda is about making Americans feel as though they don’t belong in America. That they are not wanted or needed. That they don’t deserve the right to exist and be happy and not feel as though they are a drag on the system they contribute to. Sure, you may not personally have a problem, and your blood is probably pumping at the very notion. But this is your party. If every Muslim has to be responsible for the actions of a few whenever there is a terrorist attack or other disaster, then you sure as hell are responsible for the actions of the party for which you registered.

Those that you allow to represent you make it clearer every day that they have more interest in winning than in representing those that helped them do it. Trump needs no further characterization here; you all know what he’s about. I’m talking about the rest of them that allowed this to happen. The McConnells and Preibuses of the party, that made it ok to do the wrong thing or even the morally reprehensible thing as long as you won. That made it ok for this kind of exchange to occur when people’s lives hang in the balance. Those that didn’t say they wanted to oppose Obama because they wanted to ensure their party was represented, but instead put all their effort into denying everything without discernment. To redraw districts, strip the Voting Rights act, and oppose Obama at every turn regardless of whether it was in their best interests to do so. The prime example is the blocking of the nomination of Merrick Garland. He likely would have made a fine conservative justice. But the leadership didn’t block him because he wouldn’t make a good justice. They blocked him because Obama picked him. And now, who knows who they’ll get. Does that seem like sound leadership to you?

I don’t expect to make any of you vote Democrat next midterm. Or even in the next Presidential cycle. But you’ve got to do better. I didn’t vote for Romney or McCain, but they both would have made fine presidents. I wouldn’t worry about either of them spitting on hundreds of years of precedent just so they could win. They wouldn’t ignore or besmirch the entire US Intelligence Community just because it would detract from their win. They wouldn’t praise an accused sexual abuser and likely compromised espionage artist because he legitimizes their win.

I’m not saying liberals shouldn’t do better either. We’ve really messed up in a lot of ways, and I’m not just talking about not getting Hillary Clinton into the White House. We need to find better ways to oversee our leaders as well and ensure that we have platforms that are not only viable, but that do the best they can to represent as many people as they can. Obama did it. I believe Hillary would have too.

I get it, you didn’t like her. For reasons both legitimate and fabricated. But are these men the best answer you could come up with? These leaders truly represent your interests? They’re going to take America into the next phase? Make it great again? They’re spending more time defending their choices and gloating on the very mainstream media platforms they’ve decried than turning to the very people they claimed to represent. They’re popping the champagne and barely giving a thought to those that got them where they are, coming up with falsehoods about jobs they’ve saved or how they’re going to replace a health care system with hot air.

You’ve got to do better, Conservatives. Because you look like a laughingstock right now. And America with it. You won, so now you better get to work. Because in this game, you don’t get to take four months off after winning the championship to have fun. The real work starts now. And I don’t think you’re up for it.

Prove me wrong.