http://www.rightwisconsin.com/opinion/perspectives/please-reince-stop-nowPlease, Reince. Stop Now.
You don't have to carry water for Donald TrumpCharlie Sykes
5:47 AM, May 18, 2016
2 hours ago
A few weeks back, I warned my fellow conservatives what life would be like if they embraced Donald Trump: They would spent the next six months having to defend, rationalize, or evade every slur, every insult, every falsehood, every outrage. They would be held hostage to every tweet, every outburst.
Unfortunately, Reince Priebus now seems determined to illustrate that point, one cringeworthy Sunday morning TV show at a time. So here is my open plea to my good friend:
Please stop. You are too good a man to do this to yourself or to the party.
Perhaps the harshest assessment has come from Richard Cohen who called your appearances on four shows a “trudge of abasement, a ride of shame.”
There is so much to offend, so much to defend: the king’s ransom of insults and moronic plans, the childish take on torture, the misunderstanding of the Constitution, the veritable conviction of all Mexicans on the charge of rape, the distrust of NATO, the off-the-cuff suggestion that Japan and South Korea get their own nuclear weapons, and, for a moment or two, the notion that women who seek abortions should be somehow punished.
And so poor Priebus bobbed and weaved. Sometimes he said none of this mattered. Sometimes he said the people didn’t care (he could be right about that) and often he said Hillary Clinton was worse…
This was, unfortunately, all too predictable. Trump corrupts and diminishes almost everyone who comes into his orbit. Back in February Jay Cost called Trumpism “a zombie virus that is making fools of the people who embrace it.”
After Trump lashed out at Bush saying that he had lied the nation into the Iraq war, Cost noted the response of those politicians and acolytes who had jumped aboard the Trump train and who apparently “believe that acceptance of every one of Trump's utterances is the price of admission for Trumpism.” The effects were both corrosive and embarrassing.
And now it is your turn. But Reince, here is the point: You don’t have to do this. Party unity and loyalty only go so far. Your job is not to carry water for The Orange Duce, it is to somehow salvage the GOP. You need somehow to separate the fate of the GOP from Trumpism, or risk redefining your party for a generation.
Trump is a cartoon version of every liberal stereotype of racist, sexist, xenophobic, know-nothing Republicans -- an image of old angry white men that we have spent decades denying. But now your embrace of Trump, erases any daylight between that party and Trump, with all of the attendant consequences.
Your larger task should be to preserve the larger party, a project that extend beyond the presidential ticket and even beyond this fall’s campaign. You could focus on the necessity of the down ballot races; you could relentlessly focus on the Senate, the House, governorships; you need not attempt to defend, minimize or rationalize every Trumpian embarrassment.
By clinging so tightly to your newly found role as Trump Enabler, you actually undermine that larger project of preserving your party, while doing yourself damage that I hope, as your friend, is not irreparable.
Please remember who you are. Reince, you are chairman of the party of Lincoln and Reagan. You are not some Trumpian fanboy. You are not Sarah Palin, or even Chris Christie. Have some pride.
The most painful part of watching this is that I know that you know better. I know that you are a decent and thoughtful man. I know you are deeply principled conservative who has been conscientious and effective chairman of the party. I also know that you recognize the challenges facing Republicans in the long term; one of your signal contributions was the post-2012 election autopsy that addressed the need to make the party more inclusive. Suffice it to say that the rise of Trump is a repudiation of everything that you wanted your party to become
And yet, you cheerlead for your own rejection. There is still time. Please stop.
