Once again, conservative Americans feel betrayed and ignored by the Republican “Establishment.” Yet again, we are stuck with a nominee for president who is not with us on the matters we most care about.In fact, each succeeding GOP presidential candidate now drifts further and further away from the party’s official platform.Many are pointing the finger at Donald Trump and saying they won’t vote for him. A photoshopped graphic is making a big impact for stating that the Republican Party died in 2016 and the cause of death is Donald Trump.This is the wrong diagnosis for the problem. Trump won the nomination fair and square. He competed for it and he won it.We can no longer blame the Republican Establishment. Trump won a majority of state presidential primaries – including Arizona. And a slim majority of Arizonans selected as delegates for the Republican National Convention support Trump. It's the messages he uses that are cause for concern.As Dr. Alan Snyder writes here, Republican voters have concluded that morality and integrity, the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution no longer matter. He basically says this is a dismal indication that the Republican platform no longer means beans.We said the same thing immediately following the Republican primary in 2014. That was when Arizona voters elected a Planned Parenthood supporter as secretary of state. Along with numerous others who, it appears, probably have never read the GOP platform. If they ever did, they came away with nothing from it.Further, Dr. Snyder wrote:

The Republican voters (and for the sake of brevity, I’ll just assume most were Republicans) have decided that a man who rejects nearly every line in past Republican platforms will be their nominee for president.

In short, the party is the problem. Not the establishment. Republican voters in Indiana, New York and numerous other states chose Trump. It wasn’t Karl Rove pulling all the strings.The GOP voters also chose Sen. John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 to run for president. Neither is a platform-based Republican.So the chickens have come home to roost. And we conservatives had better start articulating the reasons for conservatism’s advantages for society and why it’s the best approach for a healthy vibrant America.Dr. Michael Brown also voices the same concerns here.

This is not so much an indictment on Trump as it is an indictment on the American people. God could well be giving us exactly what we deserve.Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his blatant, well-documented lying.Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his consistent practice of vile character assassination for the purpose of political gain.Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his vulgarity and profanity.Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his ignorance of critical issues and his complete flip-flopping of major positions.

Decent people who believe in Republican, conservative principles are not winning national elections. We must roll up our sleeves and educate the people. Rush Limbaugh asked yesterday who the conservative leader is and who is articulating conservatism. I would argue that it’s Sen. Ted Cruz. But we didn’t convince enough people that he is the logical nominee.The blame lies with us. We are allowing the things that the Donald Trumps and the Michele Reagans, and others, believe in to emerge within our own party. We must do better. We must do, as conservative Bill Whittle says, a much better job of articulating our principles and why they serve America better than any other.

Previous
Previous

Attorney General Wins Big Victory against Physician Immunity under Marijuana Act

Next
Next

Cruz Lost, but Conservativism Did Not