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(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
I’ve often felt like a man without a political party.
On the one hand, I felt like a Republican.
My college professors taught me that free trade was good. I believed them. I’ve now slightly modified that stance, informed by COVID-19’s effect on supply chains and the lessons we’ve learned from our changing relationship with China. But I’m still generally in favor of free trade. Before Donald Trump became president, free trade was a Republican position.
I also don’t believe in spending the country into bankruptcy. I’m less concerned about how we balance the budget — reduced spending or increased taxes — than I am with the ultimate goal. We should not increase the national debt beyond our ability to repay it. Before Trump, Republicans seemed to believe in reducing the debt more than Democrats did.
I confess that I also let my professional interests influence some of my personal political choices. I spent two decades as a partner at one of the world’s largest law firms, defending corporations in litigation. Although I didn’t mind the social stances of the folks who Democratic presidents appointed to the bench, I often disagreed with those judges pretty violently on certain economic issues. In particular, I didn’t like the Democratic maxim that, in a dispute between an individual and a corporation, the corporation invariably loses. That took a lot of fun out of my professional life.
On the other hand, I also felt like a Democrat.
I’m in favor of intelligent gun control. I favor a woman’s right to choose. I believe in the separation of church and state. So I guess I’m a man of the left.
Then came Trump.
During the 2016 Republican primary, every Republican candidate knew that Trump was a disaster. Lindsey Graham, for example, said that Trump was a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” I’ll go along with that. Marco Rubio said that Trump was a “dangerous con man.” That sounds about right. Jeb Bush said that Trump is “an embarrassment to his family.” That’s the least of it. John Kasich complained about the “toxic atmosphere” that Trump created. If the past eight years have proven anything, they’ve proven that. Ted Cruz called Trump “a sniveling coward,” a “pathological liar,” and “utterly immoral.” Now we’re getting somewhere. Rick Perry said that Trump’s platform was “a toxic mix of demagoguery and nonsense.” That’s elegant. Bobby Jindal (yeah, he ran in 2016, too) said that Trump was a “substance-free narcissist.”
I’m leaving off my list Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and several others who were in the 2016 Republican field.
But that was what Republicans knew then. What about today?
Republicans still know that Trump is a disaster. Just three years ago, McConnell said that Trump’s actions on January 6 were a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the assault on the Capitol. At the same time, Graham said that we could “[c]ount [him] out” of supporting Trump after January 6.
Those are pretty insightful people.
Oh, wait! I forgot!
No one entered politics to do good for the country. How silly of me! You entered politics so that people would jump up and pay attention when you walked into a room. You could be a nobody, or you could be an important person. You entered politics so that you personally could cling to, and have close access to, power.
That’s quite noble.
If any of the Republicans I mentioned above ever had a soul, they’ve lost it. (Christie hated Trump, then loved him, and then hated him again. Kasich has been a pretty consistent anti-Trumper. I haven’t paid much attention to the rest. But as a group, here’s the hierarchy: Proximity to power first, God and country somewhere way down the list.)
Things, of course, have only gotten worse since January 6. We now know, for example, that Trump’s a rapist — not under the precise technical standard of New York law, but in the sense in which people commonly use the word “rape.” And he’s not a rapist under the “guilt beyond a reasonable doubt” standard, but only by a “preponderance of the evidence.”
Oh! That makes a difference! That’s my kind of candidate!
The Republican Party, McConnell and Graham included, has endorsed Trump for president.
This is insanity, and much of the party knows that it’s insanity.
Here’s my personal solution.
There are a lot of “never Trumpers” in the world, who will never vote for Donald Trump, no matter what.
I’m in a different category. I’ve become a “never Republicaner.” It’s not just Trump that’s a problem for the country, but an entire party (and certainly all of its leaders) that has lost its senses. So I’m not just voting for anyone who opposes Trump on a ballot; I’m voting for anyone who opposes a Republican.
That doesn’t make me a Democrat. I oppose certain Democratic policies, and there are Democratic candidates I’d never support.
So occasionally, in future elections, I’ll have to vote for a third party, or an independent, or I’ll have to write in the name of my preferred candidate. But I vow never again to vote for a Republican.
The party may reform itself, going back to its conservative roots. But the party will never reform itself in the sense of “Republicans put country before the self-interest of a candidate.” So the party has lost me forever.
Perhaps, in a decade or two, there will be a new conservative party. We might call them the Conservative Party, or the Whigs, or the Federalists, or the Free Soil Party, or the Know Nothings. Any name will do, so long as it’s not “Republican.” A new party, under a new name, has a chance of getting my vote.
But never again will I vote for a Republican.
That’s my vow.
From now until death.
So help me God.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.
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