Why I Can No Longer Be A Republican

BY ALEX BEAULIEU

After first becoming political during the summer of 2012, I supported Mitt Romney in his quest for the Presidency. It made sense. Who doesn’t love “fiscal responsibility” and a free market system? And with the unstable economy, pervasive gridlock, and a seemingly bleak future, I was certain that Governor Romney possessed the capabilities to transform the state of our country and quite frankly the world. But America thought differently, and the Democrats retained the Oval Office and gained eight seats in the House and two in the Senate.

After this distressing loss, I re-evaluated my stances and the current situation in Congress. Throughout the following year, I have realized that, although the Democrats could be leading better, there exists one group that has caused irreparable damage to America’s reputation and fundamentally devastated the entire nation: the Tea Party.

For this reason, I can no longer call myself a Republican.

Although small in number, the Tea Party is not afraid to be vocal. The group first came to fruition during the 2010 Congressional elections, when many Americans were upset with the lack of economic progress. Espousing libertarian and isolationist beliefs, the Tea Party even appealed to regions of the most liberal states, most prominently Massachusetts. During the course of the next two years, the Tea Party, with a firm grasp on much of the Republican establishment, controlled the House. Consequently, Americans began to experience the effects of an extremist party rule: bitter partisan divides, suffocating gridlock, and middle, sensible America left out to dry. Even with the group’s short history, it is still important to examine its damaging effects on the Republican Party and the nation as a whole.

In challenging fellow republicans in primaries, Tea Partiers have essentially eliminated the more moderate faction of the party. This, in turn, has isolated a large part of the party that, rather than vote for a Tea Partier, will abstain, or even vote for Democrats. And with most of America lying in the middle, the last thing we want to see is a political party polarizing itself.

Much of our potential progress as a nation has been stymied by the Tea Party. Rather than cultivate viable solutions on important issues, the group is more concerned with being a party of “nays.” On a background check expansion bill, in which 90% of Americans supported, the Tea Party, teaming up with the NRA, voted it down. This common-sense bill would have improved the current lax regulations on guns which contribute to 30,000 deaths a year. And any bill that a supermajority of Americans support should easily pass Congress. But the Tea Party disregarded the American public and prevented the nation from attaining increased safety. On a bipartisan farm bill, which easily passed the Senate, Tea Partiers voted against it in the House. On a bipartisan immigration bill, Speaker Boehner can’t even bring it to the floor in fear of a Tea Party backlash. Now he has to consider utilizing a much weaker piecemeal approach, separating the Senate version into parts. Doing so will significantly lessen the bill’s impact and still may not be enough to appease Tea Partiers.

The Tea Party has reached the pinnacle of negligence and disregard for the health and prosperity of Americans everywhere. By shutting down the government, the Tea Party has risked the financial stability of this country, along with significantly damaging our reputation. And the country agrees: 53% blame Republicans while 31% blame President Obama for the shutdown.

Now some people declare that one can remain a Republican even with the Tea Party’s asphyxiating presence. But frankly, the “Tea Baggers” have too prominent a voice for many moderates, including myself, to be associated with the overarching party. And while I continue to hope the party rediscovers itself and its rational founding principles, I do not foresee anything of the sort occurring soon.

All of this begs the question: how much more of this can our country handle? With only 8% of Americans even identifying as Tea Party members, it seems improbable that this group can have so much power. With the government remaining closed and the debt ceiling debate approaching, will the Tea Party truly cause another great recession? One thing is for sure: if we continue to vote in extremist Republicans, America will gradually fall off the global scale.