On the day after Donald Trump received the GOP nomination, I think it is important to remember that some Republicans see through the narcissism and the pathology, and perhaps also mourn the passage of civility in public discourse. I thought of Bob Inglis, a conservative Christian Republican from South Carolina who was defeated in a primary in 2011 because he asked his constituents to turn off Glenn Beck, read, and consider that climate change might be real. That was a courageous thing to do. I met Inglis once, had a pleasant exchange of ideas with him. His defeat in 2010 to the odious Trey Gowdy epitomizes the gradual transition of the GOP from a conservative party into something far darker. In the years since, Bob Inglis has started a non-profit promoting free enterprise solutions to climate change. I still probably disagree with him on most issues, and even on aspects of his approach to climate change. But it is refreshing to come across Republicans who do think critically, can accept and critically evaluate scientific evidence, and can engage in constructive informed debate.
Honestly, I feel a certain degree of empathy for Republicans who find themselves questioning what happened to their party. Yes, maybe they are responsible in ways great and small. But maybe take a moment and think of a Republican who might also be feeling some pain and concern today, and if you are in a position to do so, reach out.
Anyway, my letter to Bob Inglis:
Dear Representative Inglis,
I met you once nearly a decade ago, when you were part of a Congressional delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan. I am an atheist, liberal Democrat from Chicago, and you are a conservative Christian Republican from South Carolina. We had a brief conversation, and while you and I could hardly be more different in terms of our political perspectives, I came away from our brief encounter respecting your intelligence and your goodwill. Perhaps being abroad made it easier to see that we shared more than divided us, and I felt that not only might we make good neighbors, but that we might find areas of common agreement on aspects of national policy. Indeed we do, on climate change, internet gambling and warrantless surveillance to name just three.
But it’s not our shared agreement on aspects of policy that compels me to write you today. It’s our areas of difference, and the way these differences are aired and resolved on a national level. I felt genuine sadness when you lost your primary race in 2010, particularly after you ran an issues-focused race in which you asked your constituents to think critically.
Our nation needs political pluralism. So on the day after Donald Trump’s acceptance speech, I’m writing to express goodwill to you and other principled conservatives, and to express the desire that conservatives like yourself are able to reconstitute a political party based on ideas – even if I think many of those ideas are wrong, and even if I will contest them in the public arena. I hope and trust that no matter how grim this electoral season has become, that more of my fellow Democrats will reach out to conservatives who reject the politics of fear and personality, recognizing that while we may be opponents, we are not enemies.
Kind regards,
If anyone comments, I’d ask that you do so in a spirit of generosity — Inglis may have been a political opponent, but conservatives are not going to disappear from the political landscape. I hate what Trump and the Tea Party have done to basic civility… and have this strange urge to reach out today to Republicans.