Even a relatively sane Republican such as Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) is puzzled concerning the flaming crash his political party is committing, as he explains in an interview with the Deseret News:
Sen. Mitt Romney says he doesn’t know where the Republican Party is headed as the president cozies up to dictators, and character doesn’t seem to matter in leaders anymore. …
Romney said Republicans were once insistent on reducing the national debt, but that doesn’t seem to be a priority anymore. Character, he said, used to be a critical element in selecting leaders but isn’t talked about in clear ways these days.
“I don’t know where my party goes,” Romney said. “I have to be honest with you in that regard.”
Even Romney suffers from the philosophical ills of living in the epistemic bubble. I’m not going to go into the structural troubles of the Republican Party, as I’m sure my regular readers’ eyes are starting to burn from the repetition. But I’ll say this to the puzzled Senator:
- Examine the philosophy of how the party is run, every tenet, every guideline. Nothing is holy.
- Quit believing the opposition is the enemy, they’re just friends with different views.
- Acquire some political friends from outside the bubble and have sober, serious discussions with them. They will see things not apparent from within the bubble.
- Talk to apostates! Maybe the most important thing Romney can do.
- Put facts and truth first, not the comfort – emotional or religious – of the base. If they all want to head south, but the best direction is north, tell them so and start marching! And teach them that facts come first. Religious fervor has turned out to be one of the rocks of doom, so get rid of it.
- Be uncertain. That’s the basis of true governance.
These are just some of the things that Romney and like-minded colleagues must do if they’re not going to rebuild a clone with the same destiny after the current Republican Party self-destructs.
Will they? I’m sure there will be a lot of screaming over all of the above and more. For example, the tenet of Winning at all costs seems like a great tenet, but it’s led to self-destructive primaries and campaign mendacity of staggering proportions. Or Ideology above all, another one that seems like a good idea, has led to a host of third and fourth raters occupying important positions – such as host of governor’s seats.
OK, I promised not to delve into old topics, and so I apologize. But Romney, et al, have to get this right. Not for the sake of their party, but for the sake of the nation.
