Seventeen courageous men and women ran for the Republican nomination for President. Each of our Republican candidates underwent scrutiny. Each of our Republican candidates took their licks. Even candidates who never polled over 1%, like Governor Gilmore and South Caroline Senator Lindsey Graham, took their share of criticism and personal attacks. Looking back on our collective behavior during the primary – it is clear that the majority of us are responsible for the disunity we have today. I know I carry some of that guilt and responsibility.
We no longer appear capable of disagreeing with one another respectfully. When we disagree, we cannot simply disagree with each other’s ideas. There always has to be some personal evil associated with the people with whom we disagree. Governor Rick Perry of Texas supported a great deal of Eminent Domain in Texas in his early years. It must because he hates freedom and he’s a sick statist looking to enslave the property of his people for the empowerment of The State. Ted Cruz supported shutting down the government to force the Presidents’ hand on Obamacare. It must because he’s a shameless self-promoter who is incapable of working with others. It couldn’t possibly be because he campaigned on the issue and promised to fight Obamacare to the bitter end. Jeb Bush said that illegal immigrants come to America “for love”. Therefore Governor Bush must hate law and order; and he’s secretly a globalist trying to important cheap immigrant slave labor for his rich Wall Street friends.
See, maybe we don’t actually know what’s in the heart of Governor Perry, Governor Bush, or Senator Cruz.
Maybe we shouldn’t be assuming we know their true motivations and assuming that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are maleficent, and that all their supporters are nefarious and deserving of ridicule and mockery.
Maybe ridicule isn’t a valid form of political debate. Maybe we should have stuck to the issues, to the facts, to history and what history has taught us, and our reasons for projecting those lessons into the future. That would have served us better than the atmosphere suffocating us today.
Donald Trump, in all honesty, ran a campaign strategy predicated upon ridicule. He mocked his opponents until they dropped out of the race. Each of those Republican Candidates had a tight knit group of supporters who were intellectually, politically, and emotionally invested in their candidate. It is hard for them to forget how Donald Trump treated their favorite candidate so shamefully. It is hard for them to feel excited about Donald Trump or to support him enthusiastically, even if they are committed to voting for the nominee. Donald Trump’s supporters are of the opinion that these other candidates and their supporters “just need to get over it”.
When it comes to treating people with mockery and ridicule, it isn’t as easy as “just getting over it”.
In the case of Senator Ted Cruz, Donald Trump mocked his wife’s appearance, accused his father of being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and planted false stories about Ted Cruz having affairs with other women. These are hard things to “just get over”.
That doesn’t mean, however, that we cannot get over it and unite.
We can.
Sadly, the mockery and ridicule from Donald Trump and his supporters has not faded away as he secured the nomination. Strangely, Donald Trump and his supporters are less gracious in victory than they were in the heat of the battle. The mockery and ridicule has increased. I have been following this closely, as I have been tirelessly trying to persuade Ted Cruz’s Virginia supporters to vote for Donald Trump, regardless of our differences. I believe that the time to fight for our principles, our platform, and our political agendas is during the primary. After the primary is done, we vote for our Party. Voting for our party means voting for Donald Trump.
How can I help Donald Trump secure the votes of his vanquished foes if, even after his victory, he and his supporters continue to mock and ridicule Ted Cruz, his wife, his children, and his supporters?
Sadly, our hands as Cruz supporters aren’t entirely clean either. The #NeverTrump Movement, touted by many frustrated Cruz supporters, was a terrible idea. If Ted Cruz had beaten Donald Trump, and Donald Trump’s supporters came out with a #NeverCruz movement, I do not expect that many of Ted Cruz’s supporters would have been too gracious toward us.
However, and in all fairness, the majority of Cruz supporters had nothing to do with the Never Trump movement. The majority of us will vote for Donald Trump in November. So will a majority of Kasich’s supporters. I understand Trump supporters are unhappy that Governor Kasich did not attend the National Convention held in his home state. I understand that Donald Trump and his supporters, as well as Republican Party loyalists, would be unhappy that Ted Cruz did not come out and specifically endorse Donald Trump at the Convention.
But Donald Trump won. He won and it’s over, the primary is behind us. Even those people involved in the #NeverTrump movement could be brought back into the fold, were it not for all the ridicule and mockery; and Donald Trump’s supporters would be much less prone to this outrageous behavior if it wasn’t for all the unnecessary attacks against The Donald from the bitter supporters of the sixteen vanquished Republican Candidates.
These will be my final words on the topic.
Donald Trump cannot unite the Republican Party. Neither can Governor Kasich nor Senator Cruz.
Only the Republican Voters themselves can unite the party by deciding to treat one another with respect, tolerance, and understanding. We do not have to agree. Disagreement is not a personal attack and should not warrant personal attacks in return. Millennials, Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians, as well as people who are relatively apolitical, are looking at the Republican Party today with incredulous amusement and disdain, as they marvel at our disunity, immaturity, and our inability to treat each other with the same dignity a five year old child would understand.
If we want to grow the Republican Party, then we need to treat each other with respect. Only Republicans can unite the Republican Party. It begins and ends with us.
I am calling on all Republicans to end the personal attacks, the ridicule, and the mockery. I am calling on Donald Trump and his sixteen competitors to let go the past. If they don’t have something nice to say, it would be better to say nothing at all. If our children can understand these fundamental lessons of social decorum, I am confident that we can put them into practice as well.
If we come together, we’ll win. If we continue disparaging one another, we’ll lose. It’s as simple as that.
46 comments
Funny how the ones that whine about how nasty Trump supporters are can dish it out, but can’t take it. If at this point in the game a person cannot accept that Trump won the nominee and vote for him to save this country from Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine then they deserve every single bit of grief they get.
There are some at this site in particular that believe for some reason it is up to the Trump supporters to beg them for their vote, or cajole them in doing their civic duty by participating to get the GOP nominee elected. It is not. It is up to an individual to change their attitude and get with the program that millions upon millions of Americans want. After all personal responsibility is one of the driving themes of the GOP, is it not?
I didn’t like Romney or McCain, but they were the candidates. I did the yard signs, phone banks, and all the rest, and not once did I whine and complain, nor did I struggle w/inner feelings of conscience because I didn’t get my way.
Our country and our very lives are at stake, this is not about the man Donald Trump. Either you are a patriot and love this country, and will vote for Trump, or you are not. IT IS THAT SIMPLE. Those that chose not to because of their “conscience” then I have ZERO respect or tolerance for. I do not have patience for such selfish nonsense when so much is hanging by a thread. This is our last election if Clinton wins and if a person cannot see, realize, or understand that, well then, you can’t fix stupid.
Sorry if you don’t like my attitude, we are at war, and there is no time for hurt little feelings, or begging to feel needed or catered too, or have fits over name calling. I prefer to call them descriptive adjectives. I can’t help but think of the term “special snowflake”, truly a fitting term for those that have Trump issues. Get over yourselves and then maybe people might have some respect for you, until then you will be judged, disliked, and ridiculed for the Snowflakes that you are. Because guess what, it isn’t all about you. America comes first. End of story.
Even Robert Mercer, one Cruz’s biggest backers gets it. Not surprising this story hasn’t been covered here at this site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/us/politics/influential-donors-criticize-ted-cruz-for-his-gop-convention-speech.html?_r=1
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/07/23/woah-robert-mercer-excoriates-ted-cruz-for-his-non-endorsement-convention-speech/
I just wish we would do battle with the Dems as fiercely as we battle each other.
It’s the nature of the contest — GOP infighting is easier and we don’t hit back as hard. This time is different.
Danielle, God bless you. Yes.
It’s time for quiet amongst ALL of us, no more retrospection’s, no more justifications, no more incendiary, no more finger pointing, no more celebrations, no more written articles looking back at events so closely completed, no more faux candidate comparisons, no more anti anyone but Hillary Clinton. What could be the last meaningful election battle in modern American history has begun and everyone’s place is on the rampart doing their part to defeat the greatest threat to our freedoms both constitutional and otherwise in all of our lifetimes.
Every time you are tempted to turn inwards or lash out just take the moment to reflect on your children and grandchildren and paint a picture in your mind of what their lives will be under another decade of economic and social progressive rule. Because rule it will be in ever connotation of the word. We have one goal and one goal only to win, history will make it’s judgments, it always has it always will 2020 might as well be 2120 the battle is today if you love freedom, it’s not in some distant unknown political future, it’s right in front of you. This is our generation’s Valley Forge without the bitter cold and hunger but just as critical to our survival as free citizens all the same.
Lawrence — I applaud your recommendations for considered, decent dialogue. But saying “be nice” is like asking a plumber to mop the floor in hopes it will fix the plumbing — the acrimony of the day is a symprom of bigger problems.
One of the biggest problems is our widespread acceptance of false equivalences. Two notables:
1. The Democratic candidate’s unworthiness equates to the opponent’s worthiness.
2. We are Republicans so we are good.
These two widely accepted falsehoods give us license to accept any utterance from our candidate, as long as it feels good. But that leads us away from good policy, and in some cases, away from basic human decency.
I believe in support and defense of the Constitution, and have lived that belief. I object to few things as much as calls for obedience wrapped in the flag, or overused words like “patriot” or “freedom.” I’m confident the men of Valley Forge knew they were fighting not only for the notion of freedom, but specifically for the freedoms guaranteed by representative government.
I ask nothing more, and expect nothing less. So I’ll go to Valley Forge, or Brooklyn, or wherever Americans have fought. I want representative government. I want sensible policy. I demand basic human decency from the candidate I endorse.
But I won’t be persuaded by false equivalences.
This election has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats it has to do with our freedoms but since you find that an overused word unlike the hundreds of millions worldwide who fight for a sliver of what we as Americans take for granted every day I leave you with your opinions appalling as I find many of them.
Appalling is a pretty loaded word. What policy do you see either candidate pursuing that will fundamentally change our freedom?
Yeah, basic human decency, givers get.
The ship is sailing over the cliff — you may pull left or you may pull right, either might help the ship avoid the rocks at the top, but standing on the masthead demanding the ship hover and fly to safety does not help.
I’m going to claim an exemption for the ‘nevers’ and the extra-party trolls that currently infest.
There shall be no enemy within on my watch.
IMHO, a good start in uniting the Republican Party in VA at least, is to have closed primaries
Please tell our representatives in the General Assembly who will not pass a law for closed primaries, seeming to enjoy things as they are.
Well we have a majority in the house and Senate and the conservative fellowship has been calling the shots in the RPV for several years now, so which Republicans have screwed us over on this?
John Whitney appears to have been influential in the decision https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-gop-will-choose-presidential-nominee-by-primary/2015/06/27/15268ddc-1a04-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html
Hope this was enlightening.
Our conventions have been so lame that primaries are looking good even to me.
Party registration eliminates mischief on all sides, then we can have either as we we fit, but conventions are worthless without registration.
No. Please tell Republicans to show up and vote for their candidate in open primaries.
That is the real problem.
Or just party registration.
I agree.
I will not join you in your attempt to destroy The Bull Elephant!
Ridicule, attacks, and mockery are a staple of our free political process. They are the accepted substitute for guns, knives, and wood shampoos.
Ted Cruz, and the others HAVE united the Republucan Party, the behavior of the nominees who ran will reflect THEIR political futures.
Prices have been and must be paid. We Republicans will have numerous chances to personally and pointedly address our Cleveland representatives (if they stick around the Commonwealth.)
There will be political bloodshed. There always is.
Yes, time for unity.
Unified conservatives will certainly have a much more audible voice, but as the author points out, Trump’s approach to campaigning is antithetical to respect for others. If he didn’t use the convention for base-broadening reconciliation, he is unlikely to do so in the future.
At this point, cohesion will most likely be achieved if Republicans stop trying to change one another’s minds on the presidential candidate, but instead focus on issues and the important downstream votes.
Add principles and I agree. Issues come and go, but principles don’t. Freedom matters.
We wouldn’t know cohesion if it bit us in the fanny. If we want a Hillary future, we will get it — if we want to avoid it, we will do everything humanly possible to elect Trump, there is no middle ground.
Do YOU endorse and support our Presidential nominee Donald J. Trump?
We certainly wont know cohesion as long as we troll again and again. Beyond that, a reactionary xenophobe bent on trade wars is not one whit better than a military adventurist with liberal illusion disorder. And if this “yer either fer us or agin’ us” approach is this year’s version of building cohesion, it’s designers need recalibrating.
So regarding my endorsement …What do YOU think?
I wonder if traitorous behavior matters? The e-mail scandal is a national security scandal involving influence peddling and money laundering by a top level government official and possibly the president. If that doesn’t impact your thinking then “go Hillary”.
Although it has little to do with personal attacks between Republicans, the email scandal is absolutely serious business; I suspect you’ll have difficulty finding anybody who dealt with classified information who will say otherwise. I responded to Lawrence Wood on false equivalences about an hour ago, so I won’t repeat the post, but in brief, the poor qualifications of one candidate do not make the opponent qualified.
We have had many poor candidates who became great president and many supposedly wonderful candidates who became poor presidents. My only point is that Hillary essentially disqualified herself and shouldn’t even be running let alone leading. Trump is a tested and successful business leader. I don’t know if that will translate into government but it certainly is better than Hillary. Also, qualified is in the eyes of the beholder and nobody knows the final answer until the history is written after the fact.
All candidates suck, while one might not necessarily be better than the other, there is always one worse than the othere.
So do YOU endorse and support our Presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump?
Thanks for capitalizing YOU. I might not have understood the sentence without it.
I will endorse a candidate on election day.
There are limited ways to emphasize with text.
Let me break this down for you:
I believe you claim to be a Republican, so I’m asking…
Are you supporting the Republican nominee for President?
You may a) ignore b) answer affirmatively c) answer negatively or d) answer your conscience or some equivalent pointless drivel as above.
Your character, savvy, and intellect will be indicated by your response, and if it makes you feel like the special snowflake that you are, there is no wrong answer.
So please, enlighten me. Thx.
Tell you what. Start using your legal name and I will enlighten you.
A it is — do you get paid per name in your move-on database or is it just the hourly agitation rate?
Why wouldn’t you want to answer? Would it ruin your democrat status?
There are many reasons to mask one’s identity — your fixation and stalking tendencies makes it clear why those protections are in place.
Gotta love that courage conviction.
Uh huh.
I think your non-answer speaks as equally loud as Ted Cruz’ non-endorsement.
So do YOU endorse and support our Presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump?
I will be voting for Donald Trump. I will help his supporters organize, staff precincts, and get out the vote.
That is a very good answer, and I believed you say as much in your article — I think it’s high time we all followed your reasonable example. Fortunately, those that don’t, demonstrate their irrelevance — but they will eventually learn or pursue other interests.
Interesting choice of words, you say you will help “his” supporters, does that mean when Trump wins he will not be your president as well? Just curious. Getting out and working for the candidate, even if it isn’t your first choice is the way it is done, putting country first. Thank you.
Yes, I wouldn’t count me amongst his supporters – however I don’t take the same approach to these elections as most people. My vote isn’t a moral choice for which God will judge me harshly. It’s a part of a political process wherein I fight for my principles in primaries and fight for my party in general elections. So I’ll get out and work for the candidate. If Ted Cruz or Rand Paul had won the nomination, I’d hope that the supporters of other candidates would help me.
Sad that we have to parse. SBT is not your party regular — Donald is not yet your Conservative Republican — sometimes it takes a lot of lubricant in the gears of the party machinery.
It used to be the Republican Creed was good enough, and then somehow different divisions grew. I, for one, am very weary of the “conservative” mantra that has become a farce.
The people who claim the mantle most often do not deserve it.
Conservative, grassroots, elite establishment, these are not absolutes and often mean different things. For example I am conservative, grassroots, elite and establishment all at the same time.
We here in Virginia Highly recommend the D’Souza movie “Hillary 2016”. I saw it last night and it’s a must-see for every single American. Our history has been erased by the progressives, so see it for yourself. Please go this weekend so that the movie is in more theaters in the future. A lot is on the line.
You cannot build the great globalist super State without erasing the history of every nation, particularly the USA and Western Europe.
I saw this and recommend it for everyone especially those who think it a value to not-support the nominee.
In reading about the Munich Massacre, a few things become evident. The welfare state breeds frustration and anger. Multiculturalism is insanity – e pluribus unum works. Islam is a danger regardless of protestations that it isn’t. If we do not unite behind Trump, then the status quo or worse will be out politically correct fate.
I have seen it as well and it just leaves you speechless. Everyone that can should try to see this film as it lays out the Clinton legacy in clear exposition with no punches pulled.