Responsibility of Republican voters

Iowa Republicans are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the issue The first votes of the 2024 presidential campaign seasonAnd so have the voters of New Hampshire and the states that will follow Essential responsibility: Nominate a candidate who is qualified to serve as president, who “preserves, protects, and defends the Constitution of the United States.”

Donald Trumpwho has shown that he is unwilling to do so, It is clearly inappropriate. He faces a criminal trial for his conduct as a candidate, as president and as a former president in 2016. In this, his third presidential bid, he has intensified his years-long campaign to undermine the rule of law and the democratic process. He has said that if elected, he will behave like that dictator on “Day 1” and he would order the Justice Department to investigate his political opponents and his critics in the media, declaring that the greatest threats to the nation come “not from abroad, but from within.”

Trump has a clear path to the nomination; No polls to date suggest he is not the favorite. However, Republicans have yet to vote in these states. At this critical time, it is inevitable Remind voters that they still have the opportunity to nominate a different standard-bearer for the Republican Party.

, and all Americans should expect them to. This is not a partisan concern. It is good for the country that both major parties have qualified presidential candidates who present their competing views on the role of government in American society. Voters deserve such an election in 2024.

Trump’s construction a Personality cult In which the Loyalty is the only real requirement The health of the Republican Party and American democracy has been severely damaged. During the House leadership battle in the fall, for example, Trump torpedoed the candidacy of lawmaker Tom Emmer, who voted to certify the results of the 2020 election, to ensure the elevation of Mike Johnson, a loyalist who was the architect of the repeal effort. those elections. (Emmer has since supported Trump.) But some Republicans have set an example of honesty, by demonstrating the value of putting their conservative beliefs and principles above loyalty to Trump. Examples include people he once counted as allies, such as former Attorney General Bill Barr, former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and evangelical leader Bob Vander Platts.

Voters may agree to the former president’s plans for more tax cuts, abortion bans or tighter limits on immigration. That’s politics, and the divisions among Americans on these issues will continue regardless of the outcome of this election. But electing Mr. Trump to the White House for four more years is a unique threat. Because what remains, what still unites Americans as a nation, is a commitment to process, a constitutional system for making decisions, and moving forward even when Americans disagree about the destination. That system guarantees the freedoms Americans enjoy, which are the foundation of the country’s prosperity and security.

History of Trump’s contempt for the Constitution

-and their willingness to corrupt people, systems and processes for their own benefit- puts all of this at risk.

Respecting the constitution means accepting the election results. Unsuccessful presidential candidates have taken on the burden of reconciliation because the integrity of the process is ultimately more important than the identity of the president. “The people have spoken, and we respect the majesty of the democratic system,” George HW Bush, the last president before Trump, lost his re-election bid on the night of his defeat in 1992. When Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, he tried to retain power Promotes violent insurgency v. United States Government.

It also means Accept that the power of conquerors is limited. When the Supreme Court in 2008 President George W. Bush dealt a critical blow, ruling that foreign terrorism suspects detained at Guantanamo have the right to challenge their detention in federal court, the Bush administration accepted the ruling. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said he disagreed with the court, “but it’s a decision that the Supreme Court made, and now we have to move forward.”

Instead, as president, Trump repeatedly attacked the integrity and insulted the authority of other government officials, including members of Congress, Federal Reserve governors, public health officials, and federal judges. When the court ruled that the Trump administration could not add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, for example, Trump announced that he intended to ignore the court’s ruling. After leaving the White House, Trump refused repeated requests, including a grand jury subpoena, to return classified material to the government. While the government investigated, Trump asked Congress to defund the FBI and Justice Department “until they come to their senses.”

Voters inclined to support Trump as a means to certain political goals may learn from his presidency that changes achieved through extraterritorial machinations can prove short-lived. Federal courts have rejected Trump’s attempt to deny federal funding to “sanctuary cities.” Campaign promises to reduce environmental regulations have also failed: courts have repeatedly reprimanded the Trump administration for failing to follow regulatory procedures or properly justify its decisions. Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military, announced on Twitter in 2017, was challenged in court and overturned on the sixth day of the Biden administration.

in 2016Trump attracted many voters Option to establish a republic. He campaigned on a platform that challenged party orthodoxy, including promises to support domestic manufacturing and pursue a foreign policy more narrowly defined by self-interest.

Voters comfortable with Trump’s recipes now have other options. The Republican Party of 2024 has been reshaped by the former president’s populism. Despite some significant differences between the other Republican candidates — on foreign policy, in particular — for the most part, Trump’s “America First” agenda has become the new conservative.

Trump now distinguishes himself from the rest of the Republican candidates His contempt for the rule of law. The sooner it is rejected, the sooner the Republican Party can get back to the difficult but necessary work of working within the system to achieve its goals.

© The New York Times 2024