Reuben Cook: Republicans cannot continue as the party of Trump

To my fellow Republicans, I appeal to you. We find ourselves at a crossroads in our party’s history. We are bound together but we are also fractured like a coppiced tree. Whether we turn that into a strength, or a weakness, will hinge on our response to this moment.

Trump is that coppicing wedge. There is no way around it. He has espoused well the policies of the party and at the same time deserted its values. That’s not to say we should judge poorly anyone who has voted for Trump. Many fine people chose policy over personality. There is merit for that. We should respect our peers who made that choice. I do.

However, my conservative nature looks further into the future, eager for both policy and personal values represented in leadership. To thrive, we cannot let his identity become ours. We cannot become the party of Trump. That would harm the party.

Some say, “May we never utter his name again.” I would rather pray for his happiness. But let’s not let this happen again.

Because I am conservative, I want to conserve life, conserve freedom, conserve the limited role of government, but I also, like most of us, want to conserve our values. Have we forgotten that our values got us this far? We need to restore ourselves as the party of good values.

This is our time. And yet, we have those who reach beyond respecting Trump’s policies to revering him in a cult‐like fashion. His cult‐like following has pumped his ego into an aspiring dictator, demanding loyalty from all connected to him. He has usurped the term “patriots” to label his loyal followers — as if they are not patriots if they do not follow him.

He loves the power. He doesn’t want four more years. He wants 12 more years — and beyond. Why are we fueling that? Remember our values. Remember that Trump has consistently mocked the disabled; denigrates women for their menstrual cycles; spews vitriol about veterans and prisoners of war by calling them “losers” for getting captured; bans people from entering this country based solely on religion; brags about sexually assaulting women; disparages sacred religious garments of senators Mitt Romney and Mike Lee; sparks racism and cultural prejudice against various groups of people; and so on.

Need I say more?

We can find someone who embraces our policies but also embraces our values — or at least tries.

This is not the party of Trump. He thinks it is. The longer we hang onto the red hat, the further down our party falls. The next generation of voters are not buying in.

Trump pursued efforts to ensure validity in the election results. It is time to accept the outcome. Court transcripts show not only a lack of evidence of material voter fraud, but also show a lack of Trump attorneys even able to claim voter fraud — when in court. They appeal to improprieties, size of crowds, extensions of ballot deadlines legally implemented. Not to say there were no improprieties, but in all material respects it is nothing more than a Potemkin Village.

In short, Trump can’t blame the Democrats, the media, or even Romney. This is just a personal problem. Trump lost this election for us. Trump invigorated Democrats and independents to vote Democrat. So now what? We restore our identity.

We can do better. We are better. Let’s broaden our tent to those who celebrate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Let’s shift our party — not left or right — but let’s elevate it and take hold of value‐centered leadership.

We owe ourselves, our great nation and the next generation a future firmly founded on both sound policies and values.

Reuben Cook is a father of five, husband to Kira Cook, a lifelong Jazz fan and a partner at an accounting firm based in Utah.