Four score and seven years ago…
With those six words, Abraham Lincoln transformed the United States from a geographic region governed by a set of laws into an ideal. An ideal for which the Republican Party – the Party of Lincoln – was founded to preserve and perpetuate. Today, that party is traveling a path contrary to that ideal, and thus on the verge of forfeiting its claim as the party of Lincoln. However, if it – or any party wishes to earn the right to such a claim – a good start would begin by embracing six simple words: Lincoln’s idealism, Roosevelt’s populism, Reagan’s optimism.
Lincoln’s Idealism
When Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, he pointed back not to the ratification of the Constitution, but the signing of our Declaration of Independence eighty-seven years prior, with its founding principle that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.
That must be the foundation upon which the party is rebuilt, rededicating itself to the proposition that all men, and all women, of every race, creed and color are equal not only in the eyes of their Creator, but also in the eyes of the law and the eyes of their fellow citizens. To do so demands not just quiet acceptance of such an obvious fact, but active rejection of those who would argue otherwise. Let those who are so rejected seek refuge elsewhere, but let them be denied safe harbor within our party. Let the Republican Party regain its long lost historic place as the defender of liberty and guarantor of equal justice. And let us finally acknowledge, and forever rescind, our quiet tolerance of those who would deny such justice in the cynical pursuit of electoral victory. We may suffer temporary defeat, but let us lose on principle, rather than win by sacrificing it.
The Party must celebrate equally the diversity that makes us unique among nations, and those common bonds that unite us as Americans. We must be the party that lives by the motto E Pluribus Unum – out of many, one. Such was the founding principle of our nation and our Party. We must make it so again and forever.
Roosevelt’s Populism
If Lincoln taught us that America was an ideal, Theodore Roosevelt‘s populism showed the world it was exceptional. And he did so by championing two seemingly contradictory, but decidedly American icons – the big idea and the common man. Roosevelt’s America did the impossible, building a canal through godforsaken jungle. The unthinkable, preserving vast swaths of American wilderness for future generations. And finally, the unexpected, breaking up trusts owned by industry titans with names like Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan.
Such a far cry from the cowering populism and crony capitalism of today. Rather than walls to shield us from the outside world, we built pathways to bring it closer. Rather than building barriers to trade, we knocked them down. Rather than viewing natural wonders as resources to be exploited today, we saw them as gifts to preserved for tomorrow. And rather than cater to the whims of the powerful, we put the people first.
A return to the Party’s roots needs to begin with the understanding that America still does great things. It is evident every day. From Silicon Valley to the far reaches of space, from agriculture to water technology, Americans and those who have come to our shores seeking opportunity are doing things thought impossible, unthinkable, unexpected. We are on the verge of a new dawn driven by science and technology. We must embrace, rather than reject, what science, knowledge and the future can bring.
A return to the Party’s roots must include Roosevelt’s respect for the planet and the resources we’ve been given – not with an eye only on today’s pleasures and tomorrow’s profits, but for the health, safety and well-being of mankind for millennia to come. The universe is filled with limitless energy and resources, but we have only one home. Tapping the former, while preserving the latter takes only human ingenuity. Doing so can lead to a future unimagined. No nation is better suited to lead and deliver that future than the United States. Our Party must be the driver, rather than the naysayer, in pointing our nation and our planet forward.
A return to the Party’s roots must include a commitment to competition rather than cronyism, in both the private and public arenas. We must also recognize in our zeal for liberty, the paradox that unlimited freedom – laissez faire - inevitably leads to anarchy, which leads to tyranny of the strong. Roosevelt recognized this danger in the monopolies of the day, and we see it at work today as money begets influence, which begets more money. And so on. It is an insidious feedback loop that benefits the privileged at the expense of the many, done cynically in the name of liberty.
A return to the Party’s roots would value an even and predictable playing field where competition takes precedence over scale. Competitive markets ensure fair prices, efficient operations, innovation and distributed benefit. Conversely, today’s free markets are little more than crony capitalism that ultimately rewards only the connected via protection and patronage. The result has been a world of “too big to fail,” where the connected reap the lion’s share of the benefit, while the risk – financially, environmentally and otherwise – is borne by the people and society as a whole.
Furthermore, a return to the Party’s roots must recognize those same dangers in the public arena, where vast swaths of alienated citizens feel powerless as money buys both a voice and influence. That God and guns are the palliatives left to soothe the rank-and-file, as the establishment elite exchange cash for considerations, only makes the situation more volatile. Thus, the same commitment to competition must apply in the public arena, lest the voiceless rise up with guns on their hips and God on their side.
Just as Roosevelt broke the backs of big money trusts, so must we break the backs of big money donors. To libertarians who would decry such limitations as free speech violations, let us be reminded that the First Amendment makes no guarantee of an audience, only the right to speak one’s mind. Limiting cash in politics limits no one’s right to speak, only the opportunity to be heard. An equal platform means an equal voice. A renewed Republican Party needs to be committed to permitting the voices of all to speak, with the ultimate power being exercised via the ballot box, rather than the checkbook. Liberty and justice for all.
Reagan’s Optimism
Finally, Ronald Reagan’s optimism, most famously on display in his portrayal of the United States as the shining city on a hill, was a manifestation of Lincoln’s idealism and Roosevelt’s populism. He understood that America was as much an aspiration as destination because he understood fundamentally the ideal that Lincoln captured at Gettysburg. And he believed America capable of great things because he believed in the American people.
His optimism was also born of the understanding that the world is not a zero-sum game. That for one to win does not require another to lose. He thus saw America’s contributions to the world as mutually beneficial, which in turn fueled his belief in American exceptionalism. Exceptional in the liberty that pointed a way for countless oppressed. Exceptional for the wealth that worked to end poverty and disease on a global scale. Exceptional for the sacrifice that helped save the world from tyranny. And, exceptional for the belief that all men, and all women, of all colors and all creeds are equal. Reagan knew that sharing our liberty, wealth, sacrifice and ideals with the world did not make us poorer. It made us richer as a people by making us part of a richer, freer world community.
Conclusion
These prescriptions are sure to alienate parts of the Republican constituency. That is not only expected, that is by design. As our politics now lie, there are essentially four distinct parties in the United States – the Sanders Socialists, center/left Democratic technocrats, limited government, chamber of commerce Republicans and Donald Trump’s nationalist alt-right. If a return to the Party’s roots attracts centrist Democrats while alienating those who seek to exclude and divide on the right, we may find a new governing center that makes America both good and great. Let the socialists and nationalist reactionaries tug at the edges, but let those who believe in the goodness of the American people, those who trust in science, knowledge and our democratic institutions, those who know a better future awaits, work together to make that future a reality. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
That must be the Party’s creed. If not, may another party rise to proclaim it.
