Political parties need order and discipline in order to be successful. Without a common platform, there is no party. This unity requires discussion between party members to build a common set of goals that benefit the needs of constituents. As an Oregon Republican, my role models are the conservationist Tom McCall, the humble Dennis Richardson, and the patriotic Edward Dickinson Baker. National political leaders carry little interest for me as my daily public administration work is most directly affecteed by what goes on in Salem, not Washington. Accordingly, I have very little affinity for President Donald Trump, as a man who has not visited Oregon once since his 2016 campaign rally in Eugene cannot possibly be aware of the Beaver State’s federal needs. There are a number of positives to highlight from President Trump’s first term, including the intensive rollback of the regulatory state, stringent opposition to new wars, and impressive economic development driven by tax reform. He started off his second term with a stroke of genius, appointing Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be Secretary of Labor. At the same time, Trump bungled the federal response to COVID, falsely claimed he won the 2020 election, and allowed his immigration policy to be driven by white supremacist elements of the Republican Party. During his second term, operating federal immigration policy under the worst instincts of nativists is resulting in the deportation and detention of US citizens, law enforcement officers, veterans, Christian refugees from the Middle East, and lawful immigrants who have made clerical errors during good faith attempts to abide by naturalization laws. The Secretary of Defense is an alcoholic news anchor who was drunk on live TV covering election results, and the Secretary of the Navy is an art collector who bribed his way into office with campaign donations. Trade wars and tariffs have caused painful economic uncertainty under the pretense that America is able to quickly onshore industries that were carefully sent overseass across decades. This onshoring must be done, but anyone claiming that it can be done in less than the 20 years it will take to double the size of the US industrial plant is lying to voters – and they know it. No politician is above scrutiny, least of all the President of the United States. Yet for the last ten years, constuctive criticisms of his policies by fellow Republicans invites a political death sentence within the Grand Old Party. This is particularly difficult for Republicans in a State with just one Republican Representative in DC, a status quo that kept Trump from appointing a Republican US Attorney or conservative federal judges during his first term. President Trump is chronically ambivalent towards the fate of Oregon and Oregon Republicans. I feel no political loyalty to a President who avoids visiting my State to understand our needs and declines to elevate local Republicans to federal positions that can make the Beaver State a better place. I refuse to be muzzled any longer when I believe President Trump has lost his way, just as I have no problem celebrating his achievements when they benefit America. Republicans are currently benefiting politically from a moribund Democratic opposition that solely cares about fundraising, but the left will not always be this intentionally ineffective. When that time comes, diversity of opinion will be the greatest weapon against the threat of high taxes, bureaucratic bloat, and forever wars. Republicans need to embrace free speech now because every conservative elected official, from small town city administrators all the way to the leader of the free world, benefits from political accountability.
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