Illinois is a solidly blue state, but DuPage County, an area west of Chicago’s Cook County, is known for being a pretty “red” area. Open admission – long ago, I was actually a member of the DuPage County Young Republicans. Yes, really. Chalk it up to youthful ignorance.
Chris Ladd has been a precinct committeeman in York Township since 2006, and a Republican for 30 years. The dark turn his party has taken, however, led him to pen his resignation letter, which first appeared at his website GOPLifer.
Descent Into Madness
In his letter, Ladd first mentions how he felt a solidarity for years with Illinois Republicans, even as the party was swinging ever further to the right on the national stage.
“Among Illinois Republicans I found an organization that seemed to embody my hopes for the party nationally. Pragmatic, sensible, and focused on solid government, it seemed like a GOP Jurassic Park, where the sensible, reliable Republicans of old still roamed the landscape.
At the national level, the delusions necessary to sustain our Cold War coalition were becoming dangerous long before Donald Trump arrived. From tax policy to climate change, we have found ourselves less at odds with philosophical rivals than with the fundamentals of math, science and objective reality.
The Iraq War, the financial meltdown, the utter failure of supply-side theory, climate denial, and our strange pursuit of theocratic legislation have all been troubling. Yet it seemed that America’s party of commerce, trade, and pragmatism might still have time to sober up. Remaining engaged in the party implied a contribution to that renaissance, an investment in hope. Donald Trump has put an end to that hope.”
‘A Tale Of Cowards’
Chris Ladd paid attention to what was happening within his party, and he finally came to the realization that Trump IS the Republican Party, whether they like it or not. He realized and accepted that Trump sells nothing but fear to his followers.
“With three decades invested in the Republican Party, there is a powerful temptation to shrug and soldier on. Despite the bold rhetoric, we all know Trump will lose. Why throw away a great personal investment over one bad nominee? Trump is not merely a poor candidate, but an indictment of our character. Preserving a party is not a morally defensible goal if that party has lost its legitimacy.”
I applaud Mr. Ladd for his honesty and integrity. He cast off the shackles of the sunk costs bias, which can be hard for anyone to do. When we’ve invested our lives so strongly into an idea, there is an instinct to protect that idea, even when all signs point to failure. For Ladd to realize that his investment has taken a nose-dive and to get out now, and in such a public manner for a public figure, takes guts.
‘We Are Now The Party Of Donald Trump’
Ladd concludes his letter with a scathing indictment of Trump and the party as a whole. I will let his words speak for themselves:
“Our leaders’ compromise preserves their personal capital at our collective cost. Their refusal to dissent robs all Republicans of moral cover. Evasion and cowardice has prevailed over conscience. We are now, and shall indefinitely remain, the Party of Donald Trump.
I will not contribute my name, my work, or my character to an utterly indefensible cause. No sensible adult demands moral purity from a political party, but conscience is meaningless without constraints. A party willing to lend its collective capital to Donald Trump has entered a compromise beyond any credible threshold of legitimacy. There is no redemption in being one of the ‘good Nazis.'”
Ladd received many responses to his open letter and, surprisingly, he states that none of them have been angry ones.
Mr. Ladd, please allow me, as a former DuPage County Young Republican, to welcome you to the fold. You may not be ready to call yourself a Democrat yet, but these things take time. Don’t worry, we don’t bite.
