The Shocking Lack of Urgency Among the GOP Field
In September of last year, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker ended his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an appeal to his fellow candidates regarding Donald Trump:
"Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the race so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field... I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same so the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive conservative alternative to the current front-runner. This is fundamentally important to the future of the party and — ultimately — to the future of our country."
No one listened.
It took nearly two months before another Republican candidate dropped out of the race, and another five weeks before two others finally departed from the ridiculously overcrowded field. The pattern has continued throughout this primary process, with presidential hopefuls staying in contention long beyond their expiration dates.
Even now, with two primaries and two caucuses in the books, and the likelihood of a Trump nomination, there are still individuals who are putting their egos before their stated visions for the country — visions that stand adamantly opposed to Trump's.
The result? While two-thirds of the Republican base don't subscribe to Trump's liberal, autocratic platform, there are too many conservative-minded alternatives for any of the other candidates to stage an effective challenge against the front-runner.
Of course, not all of the blame falls on the other candidates. Trump has been helped greatly by the media. He monopolizes national news cycles with his outlandish, offensive remarks that have proven to be a big ratings draw. He has influential pundit-friends who've been willing to compromise their long-held principles to campaign for him on-air. He even has a liberal media that seems to be holding off on any substantive vetting of him until the general election; there's a reason for that, by the way.
Still, Trump's dominance would have never lasted this long, had it not been for too many candidates more driven by their public profiles and self-pride than putting our nation on a path back to its former glory and a promising future.
These people should have heeded Scott Walker's warning, but they didn't. And now time is about up.
A strong majority of Republican voters reject Trump, and favor someone who believes in conservative principles. If that majority is to have a relevant voice in this election, and actually beat Trump, they're going to need the type of leadership that Walker described back in September. And they're going to need it fast.
Ben Carson should provide that leadership by leaving the race...today.
John Kasich should provide that leadership by leaving the race...today.
Rubio and Cruz should provide that leadership by figuring out who is the strongest candidate between them. The weakest of the two should go.
This isn't the primary that most of us in the Republican party expected or wanted, but it's where we're at. Unless we're okay with being represented by an undignified leftist for the next four years, we need to join together, accept the reality of the situation, and once and for all deal with it.
