Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 7
by Albert R. Hunt
“Country over party,” has been the call to arms for a subset of Republicans alarmed by the takeover of the GOP by former President Donald Trump, now a convicted felon, and the unscrupulous and cynical yes-men and yes-women who have backed his candidacy, no matter what outrageous lies he tells voters or threats he poses to our country.
Let’s put the political shoe on the other foot for a moment and ask: What would Democrats do if their presidential nominee were a corrupt, convicted felon facing multiple indictments, who was dismissive of the rule of law, had urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to protest his loss of a free and fair election, and who constantly put himself ahead of the country and our democracy?
In this far-fetched hypothetical, let’s imagine if, say, former Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat convicted of bribery and obstruction of justice, were the party’s presidential nominee, facing off against, let’s say, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Fearing more conservative Supreme Court appointments, more economic policies that favor the wealthy or a more bellicose foreign policy, some Democrats might hold their noses and vote for Menendez, or cast a protest write-in ballot for some other Democrat.
But Democrats with a conscience and an appreciation of the importance of character and integrity in the White House would likely vote for the Republican and try to repair policy mistakes later.
That’s what many country-over-party Republicans are doing now. They recognize the existential threat to Americans from a ruthless, aging authoritarian and are standing up to him by announcing loudly that they are voting for – and, in some cases, even campaigning for – a Democrat with whom they may have major policy disagreements.
These GOP Harris supporters include Liz Cheney, who served as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, and her father, Dick Cheney, the two-time Republican vice president; former Secretaries of Defense Bill Cohen and Chuck Hagel; former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who served George W. Bush; former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham; former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger; former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig; former CIA and FBI Director William Webster; and Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor of New Jersey who was also a cabinet member.
But other prominent Republicans and former military leaders who privately or publicly admit that they see Trump as a threat to the U.S. and our democracy have failed to step up. They have three weeks to rise to the occasion and do what is right for America.
Let’s start with former President George W. Bush, who we know is contemptuous of Trump. The explanation given by those close to him for his silence is that he’s a lifelong Republican who wants to have a voice in the post-Trump party and doesn’t want to hurt the political prospects of younger Bush family members in a party that is currently controlled by a vengeful Trump.
Bush should know better. Unless and until Trump is decisively rejected by his party in this election, the Bushes will remain personas non grata in Trump’s party. The former president wasn’t even welcome at the GOP convention in July.
The former president’s nephew, George P. Bush, was Texas Land Commissioner and had “up and coming” political leader practically tattooed on his forehead. He challenged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had been criminally charged for securities fraud and was separately accused of bribery by four of his top aides. Yet Trump endorsed Paxton, who won in a landslide.
There is no modern example of a former president not endorsing the candidate from his own party apart from Bush, who did not endorse Trump in 2016, 2020 or now. But he has failed to endorse his Democratic opponents either. (His father, the late President George H.W. Bush, confirmed he voted for Hillary Clinton against Trump in 2016.)
The question for George W. Bush and for his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and others, including Jim Baker, a former Secretary of State and GOP powerbroker going back to the Ronald Reagan era, is what is more important to them now: country or party? They reportedly abhor Trump’s contempt for the rule of law and democracy, so why haven’t they spoken up?
They may disagree with many of Harris’ views and policies, but unlike her rival, she’s not an existential danger to American democracy, and responsible Republicans know that.
This is a binary choice – either Harris or Trump will be our next president. Writing in someone else, as some Republicans such as former House Speaker Paul Ryan, have said they will do, is a cop-out. John Pitney, a Reagan conservative, long active in Republican and academic circles, did that in 2016 and told me he regrets it: “If you abstain or vote for someone other than Kamala Harris, you effectively vote for Trump.”
The other critical group who should speak up for what’s best for the nation is retired military leaders who command widespread, cross-partisan respect. Some 740 former military, national security and foreign policy leaders – many of whom served in Republican administrations – endorsed Harris in a joint statement last month. Some, including former Army Major Gen. Randy Manner, have written on this page about why they will be voting for her.
But two whose voices carry outsized weight have not – James Mattis, the retired four-star Marine general who served as Trump’s secretary of defense, and John Kelly, a retired Marine general who was Trump’s chief of staff and secretary of homeland security.
Both Mattis and Kelly have issued vehement, on-the-record warnings about the dangers that Trump poses to national security and have complained about his disdain for fallen soldiers. Yet neither has endorsed Harris.
If they are worried about retired generals making partisan endorsements, that’s more an excuse than a real barrier to speaking up for what is best for the nation. David Shoup, a Medal of Honor recipient who served as commandant of the Marine Corps, became a vehement critic of President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War after he retired.
Retired Admiral Steve Abbot, who was a Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush, said he endorsed Harris because Trump “poses a significant risk to the American people and our democracy.”
If former President Bush, Mattis, Kelly and others believe this election is an ordinary contest between two ordinary candidates, then their silence is justified.
But if they share the fears about a second Trump presidency that the Cheneys and so many prominent Republicans and former national security leaders have articulated, then as leaders and role models, their silence is unacceptable – and puts our nation at risk.
Washington columnist Albert R. Hunt has covered U.S. politics and presidential campaigns since 1972, previously for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and the International New York Times.
