LETTER: Let the voters decide what kind of Republican to elect

Don “K” has been accused of being a RINO. What is a RINO? Who gets to decide what a RINO is? For that matter, what is a Republican? And who gets to decide what a Republican is?

I would argue that the voters get to decide what a Republican is. After all, elected officials from any political party have a primary duty to represent those who voted them into office based on their platform. In a broader sense they also have a responsibility to represent those who make up the population of the district they represent.

A party’s political platform is a moving target. As times change, people change and the demographics of the voting public change. Thus so do political platforms change. Where would Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan fit in today’s Republican Party? Would they be termed as RINOs along with Don “K”? And once again, who gets to decide?

One platform that the Republicans have had for at least the past seven years is intransigence, the results of which is getting nothing accomplished. There is no working with the other party. Those in the Republican Party that do not toe the line are termed as RINOs. I don’t find this to be a sustainable political platform. It is pretty obvious that a good portion of Republican voters are fed up with this intransigence. Enter Trump. Is he a RINO and if so, so what? Republican voters are deciding.

America is changing, whether we like it or not. The Republican party is changing and it appears that the “non-RINO” wing of the party does not like it.

To be completely fair, the Democrats have a lot to sort out between now and their convention this summer. This is a very interesting political year.

—Joe Grabowski, West Glacier