From the left: GOP should disown Tea Party
Every op-ed I have written for this paper has been intended for the independent-minded centrists among us who may tack fluidly left or right, politically speaking, as their judgment guides them.
Today I make an appeal directly to any staunch Republican who has yet to fully kow-tow to the radical element making such a hateful and fear-based noise from your flank. As I watched Republican after Republican fall to Democratic challengers on election night, I became convinced that over the next few years the nation would witness the GOP quite literally devour itself.
From a political standpoint, I must confess the notion did not bother me; however, I have been reminded by individuals from both sides of the aisle that unity for the people is a far greater prize than political clout for one party.
I find myself truly humbled by the dignified way Michelle Obama carried herself through the insanity and hateful rhetoric of the last six months. There is no doubt in my mind that if individuals had dangled empty chairs from ropes to symbolically lynch my spouse, I would have transformed into a rabid dog before the public eye. I have also developed a solid respect for Chris Christie’s willingness to rise above the rancor to praise the job performance of a man he ideologically opposes. There, ladies and gentlemen, is a true statesman.
Most profoundly, I find myself in awe of the post-election good faith already being publicly expressed by common men and women within the Latino community who seem to be saying to the Republican Party, “You left us no choice but to turn our backs to you this time but we may be willing to support you in the future if your party can find a way to promote basic human dignity over what comes across as thinly veiled white supremacy.”
Thus inspired, today I make my appeal to the rational and stately Republican who can still remember the classical ideals upon which your party was founded. Informed by those ideals, use your political prowess to oppose the radical hypocrisy of the Tea Party.
Acknowledge that a collective voice from the fringe of a historically privileged demographic demanding an immediate end to all governmental intrusion upon their civil liberties while simultaneously striving to seize legal authority over women’s wombs is not a social movement, but a fearful and spasmodic reaction to a perceived threat to their social status.
I implore you to see the Tea Party for what it is, the death rattle of puritanical misogynistic bigotry. I hope you will do so not merely to restore your political viability within an electorate that has irreversibly diversified but to restore the luster and dignity bestowed upon your party by early statesmen like Abraham Lincoln.
Though my personal and political beliefs vastly differ from yours, I will humbly concede that fundamentally, the Republican Party is capable of playing a functional role in the system of checks and balances necessary to navigate the ever-shifting needs and challenges of our people. Today I invite you to ask yourselves the same question I have been asking myself since the election: What would Lincoln think of such self-important caricatures as Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, or Rush Limbaugh?
For Republicans who might be willing to work collaboratively with liberals to serve the plurality that is America, to continue to allow the parasitic radical fringe to breathe life from your legacy is to profoundly increase your odds of coming down on the wrong side of history. Does the GOP truly want to let itself go the way of apartheid?
Cardin is a resident of Kalispell