On September 21, 2016

Why this Democrat wants a strong Republican Party

By Lee H. Hamilton
I’ve been a Democrat all my life. But that doesn’t mean I favor a weak Republican Party. Indeed, just the opposite. Before my Democratic friends drum me out of the party, let me explain why.
Our nation is stronger and our representative democracy healthier when we have two strong parties. A single political party that’s able to dominate public policy-making undermines the give-and-take that’s crucial to effective policy and leaves us weaker as a country.
Why is this? For starters, none of us, and neither political party, has a monopoly on wisdom. Moreover, the legitimacy of the political system rests on its ability to give voice to the multitude of concerns and attitudes held by the American people. It’s important they all have a political party to turn to.
I don’t want to get into the split between backers of Donald Trump and the traditional Republican leadership—that’s for the GOP to sort out. But there’s no doubt that the Republican Party has reached a crossroads.
If Trump wins the presidency, he’ll be the chief actor in determining the future of his party and what it stands for. If he loses, the GOP will more than likely move back toward its more traditional views.
I suppose I’m showing my biases here, but I believe that a robust Republican Party will strengthen its willingness to improve and broaden the policy debate and move it away from steps to impede it. This would be a GOP that advocates for limited government, wants to reform our unwieldy tax code, and is determined to remain fiscally responsible so that deficits don’t explode. It would tackle our healthcare system by reforming it using market mechanisms. It would push to devolve power away from Washington, giving states more control over such basic responsibilities as highways, welfare, and education.
Each of these issues has been at the center of the national agenda for many years, suggesting their difficulty. We need proposals from both sides that are realistic, coherent, and based on numbers that add up. We need parties that are at the top of their game, generating solutions to the issues we confront and prepared to negotiate to move us beyond our current gridlock.
This can best happen when a healthy Republican Party is competing with a healthy Democratic Party. At the moment, that’s not what we’re seeing.
Lee Hamilton is a senior advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

If Vt wants a future of abundance, we must choose to build

April 23, 2025
By Miro Weinberger Editor’s note: Weinberger is currently the executive chair of Let’s Build Homes. He was raised in Hartland and served as mayor of Burlington from 2012-2024. If you’ve turned on a podcast, watched a late-night show, or scrolled social media in the past month, you’ve probably heard something about “Abundance,” the new book…

Vermont School Board Asso. supports H.454 ed plan

April 23, 2025
Dear Editor, VSBA supports the bill as a more thoughtful and phased approach than Governor Scott’s rushed, five district proposal. Grounded in a more realistic timeline: H.454 is the most grounded and actionable proposal developed during the 2025 session. It acknowledges the operational realities education leaders face every day. The implementation timeline is more manageable…

Vote Bill Vines for Killington Select Board

April 23, 2025
Dear Editor, At the special election on May 28, I am running for the 2-year seat on the Killington Select Board. An incredibly diverse group of people call Killington home; my partner Mary Furlong and I included. After years of renting a ski house, we purchased our first Killington home in 1995. In 1997 we…

The real enemy isn’t fear, it’s how we let it divide us

April 23, 2025
By Stanley McChrystal Editor’s Note: Stanley McChrystal, who is retired from the Army, is the former commander of U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan and the former commander of Joint Special Operations Command. He is the author of the forthcoming book “On Character: Choices That Define a Life.” This commentary was first published…