A Tale of Two Januarys | Why this former Republican is voting for Kamala Harris  

Elections & Politics #136 | By: Rudolph Lurz | October 31, 2024
Featured Photo: abcnews.go.com
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I spent most of my adult life in the Republican Party. I enthusiastically supported John McCain in 2000 and 2008. I voted even more enthusiastically for Mitt Romney in 2012. My ideology is grounded in fiscal responsibility, personal liberty, strong national defense, and federalism.  

I worked as a legislative intern for a GOP state senator to learn about policy formation. I was more than a right-leaning voter. I was a true believer in the party of Lincoln, Teddy, and Reagan. Like many Republicans, I saw an opportunity in the primary season of 2015-2016. I could not wait to defeat Hillary Clinton and elect the next Republican President of the United States. 

Then Donald Trump came down his golden escalator. 

I recognized that Trump was the demagogue that the Founders feared. I wrote that the only way for Republicans to win was for Trump to lose. I noted that his anti-immigrant fear mongering was reminiscent of the 19th Century No-Nothing Party and had dark roots reaching down to the worst parts of human nature.  

I posted way too often on Twitter. I advocated for Governor Kasich. I pleaded with my friends to stop Trump’s path to the nomination. 

Then he won it. Then I woke up to the news that Pennsylvania had been called and America had just elected Donald Trump. 

I stayed a Republican for a little while longer. Hoping that members of my party would stand up to him. Instead, they all bent the knee. 

I became a blue dog Democrat after that. There was space for a McCain/Romney Republican in the Democratic Party. I wrote passionately in 2020 to endorse Joe Biden. I celebrated with my liberal colleagues even though I disagreed with 90% of Biden’s platform.  

The Republic was more important than tax cuts. Trump had to be defeated. 

I thought it was over. Then January 6th happened. And somehow the cowardly GOP decided to forget about that, too. Trump is back.  

Once again, the only choice is the Democrat standing in his way. That person is Kamala Harris. She must become the 47th President of the United States. 

Analysis  

There is a myriad of reasons to vote for Kamala Harris. I disagree with most of her policies. I’m voting for her anyway. 

To me, 2024 is the choice between two Helsinkis and two Januarys.  

The first Helsinki is the disastrous meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. From that podium in Finland’s capital, Trump sided with Putin over America’s own intelligence services.  

Far from “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” indeed. President Reagan would roll over in his grave if he witnessed a so-called Republican groveling before his Russian counterpart. 

President Trump openly praised Russia’s dictator while criticizing NATO allies and threatened to pull out of the treaty that has guaranteed Western security for multiple generations. 

President Biden secured a coalition to keep Ukraine standing following a brutal attack from Russian invaders. When Biden went to Helsinki, it was to announce NATO’s expansion. Finland and Sweden are now both NATO countries. Ukraine’s flag still flies over Kiev and NATO has never been stronger.  

Which version of foreign policy more closely aligns with traditional conservative ideology? It’s absolutely Biden and Harris leading the free world instead of retreating into appeasement and isolationism.  

My conservative friends talk often about how 2017-2019 were great years. President Trump was inexperienced with wielding executive power. He also had fairly competent leadership serving alongside him. General Kelly and General Mattis are American heroes.  

By the end of his term, the good folks were gone. The only ones that remained were sycophants. The only test that mattered was fealty to Trump.  

General Mattis didn’t have a job in 2020 and Betsy DeVos still did. Competence doesn’t matter to Trump. Blind obedience does.  

Trump the Sequel will not have the competent supporting actors of Trump 2017. It will be a freak show that looks more like Q-Anon’s finest than Trump’s first West Wing. Have you seen the typical lineups at CPAC lately?  

General Mattis, General Kelly, Mike Pence and Paul Ryan are long gone.  

Matt Gaetz, Mike Flynn, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene are leading the GOP vanguard now. 

You’re not going to get conservative policy wins with this Mos Eisley Cantina band of weirdos in charge of the country. 2017 and 2018 weren’t great to begin with. They’re not coming back in Trump’s second term. It will look more like that Madison Square Garden nightmare than bill signing celebrations in the Rose Garden.  

The most important thing to me is a choice between two Januarys.  

We can inaugurate Kamala Harris on January 20th after a resounding win that sends Trump back to retirement at Mar-a-Lago. Normal Republicans like Nikkii Haley and Governor Sununu can have a place at the table again. 

Or we can elect Trump. We can watch Vice President Harris certify Trump’s victory on January 6th. We can watch those same losers that desecrated the Capitol 4 years ago celebrating in the same spot. We can watch the imprisoned rioters step out of jail on January 20th when Trump is inaugurated and pardons them all, like a dystopian reprise of that scene in Air Force One when the terrorist colonel gets released from prison while the other prisoners cheer. We can watch our children celebrate Ashli Babbitt Day as Trump declares her martyrdom. 

Then we can all watch Donald Trump take his second oath of office on Martin Luther King Day while Joe Biden and Kamala Harris glare in silence.  

That is the darkest timeline. But we can prevent it.  

I don’t want four more years of chaos. I want the adults back in charge of the GOP. To my fellow conservatives, you don’t have to sacrifice your principles by swearing fealty to a narcissist. In the words of Owen Wilson’s character at the end of the film, Wedding Crashers, “I’m not standing here asking you to marry me. I’m just asking you not to marry him.” 

You don’t have to like Kamala Harris. You don’t have to like her policies. It’s not marriage. It’s one vote in the booth on one day to ensure we don’t have four more years of lunacy.  

One vote for Trump won’t create fascism. It will create modern feudalism. Trump isn’t a dictator. He’s a sad feudal lord who wants to turn the country into his personal fiefdom. If Trump wins, the GOP will forever be united to Trump’s vision and legacy. A vote for Kamala is temporary. A vote for Trump is forever. 

I’d like to have the confidence to put the news on TV without the President of the United States saying obscene things that I would not want my young daughters to hear. I’d like the confidence to criticize the President at lunch at Applebee’s without wondering if there’s a red hat in a neighboring booth who’s going to stand up and try to fight me.  

Trump will not bring back the glory years. He’ll bring back division, destruction, and embarrassment.  

I choose the Helsinki where NATO thrives. I choose the January that allows my daughters to watch the first female President take the oath of office. 

I choose Kamala Harris. I hope you do as well.  

 

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