Blevins letter: Republicans

I’m no longer a registered Republican, but I long for the days of a Republican Party that represented a wide variety of views. In that regard, I’m talking about the party of Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. All of them were conservatives, but they were open to compromise and routinely worked with their counterparts across the proverbial aisle. Their party nowadays is too exclusive and narrow-minded. For many Republicans, the word “compromise” is a four-letter word. That ought not to be the case. If America wants to realign its two political parties, then so be it. One can be the conservative and the other can be the labor party, but those designations are divisive and unworkable. Voters, we don’t have a parliamentary system in the United States. If we did, then those labels would be meaningful. I’m not going to vote for The Donald (Trump) or Hillary Clinton, but I do admire the fact the former has identified the real problem with American politics, i.e., our political parties are too divided by ideology when, in fact, the only thing that really matters is compromise for the general welfare of the American people.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Blevins letter: Republicans."