The Republicans I know

The Republican Party has changed.   And not in a good way.  



I eat often lunch with Republicans.    A lot of my former clients are Republicans, indeed most of them.   

My circle of Republican friends skew toward prosperous, Rotarian, Chamber of Commerce members.   And I am 66 and most of them are more or less my age.

I like them.   They are good people.

They remember a Republican party that included people like Mark Hatfield, Bob Packwood, Vic Attiyeh, John Dellenback.   They voted for Nixon several times, Gerald Ford once, Ronald Reagan twice, Dole, McCain, and then Romney.   

Republicans I eat lunch with are public spirited.   They serve on city councils and nonprofit boards of directors, they support public schools and colleges, many are active in their churches, they donate to good causes and show up at fundraisers and high school football games and do-good community events of all kinds.   They support local governments and are essential to the civic life of our community.   They are on planning commissions, irrigation district boards, college and hospital advisory bodies. They know gay people, as family members, employees, children of friends.  

Meanwhile, a Republican presidential campaign is going on.  And what I observed at first hand shows Republican candidates and Republican audiences of an entirely different orientation.   Trump's popularity has helped shaped this campaign, with Trump saying what he says and the others essentially copying him.   Yes, I realize the tone differs:  Cruz angrier; Rubio and Fiorina more intense; Bush and Kasich more earnest; Christie as pugnacious but more disciplined.  But the basic message is the same:

     ***Government can do nothing right because public institutions are run by weak fools.

    ***The economy in America is miserable and getting worse.

    ***White Christians are under attack and we need to fight back.

    ***Reverse legal gay marriage.

    ***Immigrants are frightening.

    ***Taxes can be cut, the military can be increased in size, wars can be fought, and--simultaneously--the budget will be balanced.  

Actual Republicans I see at lunch are not primarily motivated by white identity politics.   Actual Republicans I talk with don't think government can do nothing right; they are on the leadership boards of those institutions.  Actual Republicans don't engage in total magical thinking that allow taxes to be cut, expenses to go up, and budgets get balanced.   They know better.  

They are running businesses, making investments, shaping and building institutions.  They aren't angry, hate-filled, frightened, depressed, xenophobic, or homophobic.  They are builders.

My circle of acquaintances are not the whole of the Republican primary base.  But these are the Republicans I know, college-educated and civic minded, and these are community leaders now and they used to be the solid responsible center of the Republican Party.   No longer.

I think they have a problem.   There is no one running for president who represents the world as they see it.