Loosening the Republican Lock Step

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/opinion/letters/republicans-trump.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

“Republican Party Under Trump Offers 2 Options: All In, or Out” (front page, Dec. 22) may be the catalyst for finding out why the Republicans are indebted to President Trump, who has, among other things, insulted his fellow Americans; cajoled and criticized his ally Mitch McConnell; lied about many subjects, including his impeachment; flattered America’s most untrustworthy adversaries, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un; and forced many Republicans not to seek re-election.

Yet he continues to hold a majority of the Republican Party captive, afraid to criticize his bizarre comments on Twitter or comment on his hateful speech.

We have allowed the bully to prevail — and continue to do so.

Here is an immoral person with little concern for his fellow man or for the country he represents. A man who is putting our country at risk and into much debt. Will it lead to the bankruptcy that he has often faced?

What is his hold? Why do those who remain loyal to his whims stay?

Most of us do not understand what is happening. How do we convince his most ardent supporters that many of the president’s choices undermine us all?

Miriam Kagan MargoshesHastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.

To the Editor:

I can understand that Republicans who wish to remain in office feel they must support the president no matter what he does. I am sorry that they choose party over country, but at least their fear and their motivation are clear to me.

What I can’t understand is the silence of those who choose to leave or are forced out. These are the people who could begin to crack the veneer of the president’s so-called power. And his abuse of power. They could be a voice for truth and decency.

Susan SheltonFalmouth, Mass.

To the Editor:

As a 15-year-old, I am terrified by how much control President Trump has over an entire party.

I’ve learned in school about how American government is supposed to work, about its founding ideals and the beauty of American democracy. I was looking forward to exercising my right to vote and being a part of my country’s governance, but articles like these show how our governing system has become corrupted to the point that it is no longer functional.

Although I’m too young to vote right now, decisions are being made that affect me. I’ll have to deal with the effects of climate change and our broken democracy, and I’m already living with constant fear of mass shootings, worsened by the metal detectors I walk through each day I go to school.

It concerns me that the current situation precludes our elected representatives from doing what they think is right, and that one person alone is able to exert so much influence.

It makes me more scared of the future than I already am.

Cora PhalenCincinnati

To the Editor:

Progressives and moderates hold in their hands the key to ending President Trump’s lock on the Republican Party.

Democrats, Greens and other like-minded citizens should — en masse — change their officially registered affiliation to Republican. Such a collective move would restore balance by diluting right-wing influence in closed primaries. Those who make the switch will still be able to vote for candidates from any party in general elections.

Donald MenderRhinebeck, N.Y.