Can Decent People Be Republican Anymore? [View all]

[n2doc]

By Rich Barlow

Is it possible for decent people to be Republican?

With members of the Grand Old Party more robust in supporting Donald Trump than Democrats or independents, the question inevitably bleeds into another: Can anyone besides an ethical eunuch support our increasingly radioactive president? We’re getting some counter-intuitive responses along the political spectrum.

Diane Hessan, a researcher for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, sympathizes with Trump voters. She talks regularly with them as part of a reconciliation project. For example, she says that they were as appalled as anyone at the racist violence in Charlottesville, but they feel that the media obsessed over Trump’s wan condemnation of white supremacy, ignoring more pressing national problems.

While Hessan gazes benignly on the voters who spurned her candidate, conservative columnist David Brooks glowers. He suggests that some portion of the GOP “has become more of a white ethnic party, ethnic nationalist party,” adding that if the party becomes “aligned with bigotry in some overt way or in any way, you can’t be a Republican and try to be a decent person and be a part of it.”

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http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2017/09/11/trump-republicans-rich-barlow