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Oregon House Republican leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, right; House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, center; and House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, rear, in a file photo from January.

(AP Photo/File)

By Jennifer Williamson

Let's be clear: The presidential candidacy of Donald Trump has left no room for neutrality or evasion.

Trump's reckless courting of racists and racist ideas, coupled with his dangerously un-American immigration proposals and constant stream of prejudiced insults and conspiracy theories, have cast a dark shadow over the entire nation.

This moment transcends mere partisan politics. Trump's candidacy for president is the defining moral question of our time, which is why some Republican leaders elsewhere have broken ranks with their party and are speaking out against Trump.

In Oregon, however, most Republican leaders and candidates are -- incredulously -- claiming that they are neutral or undecided. These Republican leaders include Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli and House Minority Leader Mike McLane, who appear to have instructed their candidates to dodge the question entirely.

But while that might make for convenient politics for them in the short term, their failure to speak out could be disastrous for all of us in the long run.

At this point, the real danger of Donald Trump's campaign isn't that he could win -- although that's also terrifying -- but that he's already unleashing a destructive tidal wave of racist ideas, conspiracy theories and hateful rhetoric that will far outlast his campaign.

Trump has embraced racist ideology since the very first day of his campaign (when he called Mexicans "rapists" and "murderers"), and he's given the racist white nationalist movement a megaphone through his campaign. Trump has elevated this fringe element to national prominence with the help of Republican leaders, either through their overt endorsement or by silent assent.

Trump has spent months using his position as the standard-bearer of the Republican Party to amplify the voices of racists and misogynists, and GOP leaders across our country have a responsibility to speak out against the monster they've created.

Instead, over the past year, Oregon Republicans have remained silent:

When Trump made fun of a reporter's disability.

When Trump attacked the Gold Star family of a fallen war hero.

When Trump said that women who have abortions should be punished.

When Trump doubled and tripled down on his pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country.

When Trump argued that Judge Gonzalo Curiel couldn't preside over his Trump University trial because of his Mexican heritage.

When Trump pledged to build a wall along the border and deport millions of families.

When Trump claimed that President Obama and Hillary Clinton were the "co-founders" of ISIS.

When Trump urged a hostile foreign government to hack into his opponent's emails.

When Trump implicitly called for gun activists to shoot Clinton or her judicial nominees.

And -- perhaps even more dangerously -- when Trump claimed that if he loses, it's only because the election is rigged, and then encouraged his supporters to "monitor" polling places in areas with heavy minority populations. At the very least, this lie will create an unfounded mistrust in the foundation of our democracy; at worst, it will lead to voter intimidation or even violent confrontations.

Any one of these examples alone is an affront to our shared American values of respect, tolerance and pluralism. Taken together, they're an all-out assault on our democratic ideals.

Our country is at a profound turning point. The moment cries out for moral leadership. This is not the time for Republicans to stand on the sidelines and hope that "neutrality" or "indecision" will somehow shield them from culpability. Confronting the racism, sexism, bigotry and hatred that has been emboldened by Trump's campaign will take years of hard work, and that begins by speaking up now.

Sadly, the silence of Oregon Republican leaders has become deafening.

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Jennifer Williamson, a Democrat, is House majority leader in the Oregon Legislature. She represents southwest and northwest Portland.