Chris Vance: A rallying cry for a post-MAGA future from a Republican in exile

I was a Republican for 37 years. I was honored to serve in the state Legislature, the King County Council, as the chairman of the Washington State Republican Party, and as the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2016. I left the party in 2017 when it became clear that Trumpism had replaced Reaganism in the GOP.

Since then, I have wandered the political wilderness, sometimes engaged in efforts to restore my party to its former path, sometimes testing whether independent candidates can make a difference, sometimes even working to elect Democrats.

But I have always said that if there was a serious effort to return the GOP to traditional Republicanism, I would join that fight. The fight is just over the horizon, and some Republicans are gearing up for it.

Last year, former U.S. Sens. John Danforth of Missouri, William Cohen of Maine and Alan Simpson of Wyoming, and 34 other former Republican elected officials, including the later former Washington Gov. Dan Evans, launched Our Republican Legacy, an organization to resist Trump’s new populist, radical version of the GOP, and to reassert our support for traditional Republicanism.

Now, faced with the chaos, division and danger Trump has already created in his second term, ORL is transitioning from a messaging organization to a mobilizing one, and I have joined as senior adviser.

No matter how serious Trump says he is about running for a third term, the constitutional prohibition remains; for the first time since May 2016, we can look ahead and see a time when Donald Trump will not be the all-powerful leader of the GOP. In roughly two years, Republicans will begin lining up to run for president. The race will be wide-open, and the future of the GOP, the conservative movement and America itself will be at stake.

Traditional, principled conservatives need to rally. Many Republicans have given up on trying to winch our party out of the populist ditch. National resistance has been missing. ORL will provide that resistance and do so with credible national leadership and advocacy, and with grassroots activism via the 50-state national committee of volunteers we are building.

This initiative rests on the most solid of foundations — the five principles that historically have defined our party and been universally accepted across its membership. They are:

The Constitution and the rule of law: We are pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We oppose the actions the Trump administration has already taken that defy the Constitution.

Union: Since the time of Abraham Lincoln, ours has been the party of the Union, of holding a fractured country together as one indivisible nation.

Fiscal responsibility: We renew our historical commitment to a sound economy. We oppose budgets under consideration by Congress that would again drive up deficits and debt.

Free enterprise: We support the private sector as the source of prosperity against big government interventions such as high protective tariffs and price controls.

Peace through strength: We believe that a peaceful world depends on a strong United States that is steadfast in opposing the aggression of Russia and other hostile regimes and is unwavering in our support for our allies, particularly Ukraine.

Washington state Republicans especially need this movement to succeed because, as long as MAGA defines the GOP, Republicans have no chance of winning on the West Coast.

We take on this mission, which we acknowledge will be difficult, because we know that our nation’s well-being depends on having the positive, stabilizing influence of a healthy, two-party system, which we currently do not have.

America needs the GOP to once again be a responsible center-right party. America needs a rebirth of the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan. Washington state needs the return of the party of Dan Evans, Slade Gorton and Jennifer Dunn.

And so, I am ready to call myself a Republican again. A Republican currently in exile, but a Republican nonetheless. And ready for the inevitable conflict to come.

Originally published in The Seattle Times