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DENVER A free market guy like the Independence Institutes Jon Caldara normally doesnt have much in common with progressives, except when it comes to ballot measures.

Liberal activists are furious after spending millions of dollars to pass left-wing ballot initiatives in November in states such as Oklahoma, Maine and South Dakota, only to see Republican lawmakers use their legislative muscle to gut, modify or outright repeal them this year.

Mr. Caldara feels their pain. A frequent sponsor of right-tilting ballot measures in Colorado, he has watched for years as Democratic state legislators chip away at a conservative favorite: the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, passed by voters in 1992.

The coup de grace came in June, when the Colorado state legislature voted to levy a charge on hospitals without putting the issue on the ballot, even though the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, also known as TABOR, requires all tax increases to go before the voters.

There is no better poster child for the political system destroying an initiative by the citizenry, said Mr. Caldara. Let me say it really clear: TABOR is dead. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights, for all intents and purposes, is dead in Colorado.

In other words, the left now is learning the hard way what the right has long known: Just because the voters pass a ballot proposal doesnt mean the state legislature wont fight it.

For years, state ballot measures were the go-to mechanism for conservatives shut out of the lawmaking process by Democrats. But with Republicans in control of 32 state legislatures 33 with the nonpartisan Nebraska unicameral the citizen initiative process increasingly has morphed into a tool of the left.

Seventy-six initiatives appeared on U.S. ballots in November, the highest number in more than a decade, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts Stateline blog, and many were from the left, including minimum wage increases, tax hikes and criminal justice reforms.

Justine Sarver, executive director of the liberal Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, cited 2016 progressive ballot triumphs on raising the minimum wage in four states, increasing taxes in two and providing workers with mandatory sick leave in two states. She predicted those wins are only the beginning.

At BISC we are already more than one year into a multi-year, multi-state, proactive strategy, Roadmap to 2020, which will put measures on the ballot to address economic inequalities and expand access to democracy nationwide, Ms. Sarver said in a January press release.

In Maine, voters approved a marijuana legalization initiative as well as three left-wing measures an overhaul of the election system, a tipped minimum wage hike and a 3 percent income tax increase for top earners but the euphoria for the winners was short-lived.

No sooner had the Legislature convened than Republicans took on the measures, repealing the income tax hike, watering down the minimum wage law with the support of restaurant servers who feared it would reduce their incomes and securing a statement from the Maine Supreme Court indicating that swaths of the ranked-choice voting system were unconstitutional.

Ironically, the progressive ballot victories came even as Republicans gained ground in the Maine Legislature.

Its a result of the frustration that they have that they cant get these bad policies through the Legislature because we have a governor who will veto destructive policies, said Jason Savage, Maine Republican Party executive director. Instead, theyre just going directly to the ballot to pass their utopian ideas and not even trying anymore.

Will of the voters

The Republican Partys dismantling came at a price. In July, Maine Gov. Paul LePage briefly declared a partial government shutdown as lawmakers wrestled with headaches triggered by the passage of the measures, which dominated the legislative session.

It puts us in a defensive posture defending taxpayers, defending peoples freedom, defending the Constitution, said Mr. Savage. It would be a lot nicer for Republicans to talk about the policies that they think would help people instead of undoing policies that are hurting the economy or violating the Constitution.

There is no end in sight: Maine progressives already have placed an initiative on the November ballot to fund an expansion of Medicaid.

While Maine may represent the most extreme example of progressive ballot activism in Republican-dominated political territory, the Pine Tree State isnt alone.

In South Dakota, Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed in January a repeal of Initiated Measure 22, a campaign finance proposal passed two months earlier with pressure from a liberal Massachusetts advocacy group, after a court found it unconstitutional.

In Oklahoma, two ballot measures backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and approved in November were promptly met by Republican-sponsored repeal legislation. The bills failed, and the initiatives to reduce certain drug and property crimes to misdemeanors took effect July 1.

Progressives who have rallied behind efforts to shift their focus to the ballot initiative have decried Republican efforts to derail the measures, which include moves by state legislatures to make qualifying for the ballot more difficult.

What all these attacks have in common is a blatant contempt for the will of the voters, said Ms. Sarver. Conservatives disregard for ballot measures is especially hypocritical because they were once an important political tool for them.

Of course, conservatives also have had their best-laid ballot measures upended by Democrats. Exhibit A is same-sex marriage.

Voters in California approved same-sex marriage bans twice, in 2000 and 2008. The first time, the Democrat-controlled State Legislature voted to repeal the measure, only to have Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger veto it.

As attorney general, Jerry Brown refused to defend the traditional marriage initiative in response to a lawsuit, forcing the measures sponsors to hire private counsel. The legal challenge ultimately prevailed.

In the case of marijuana legalization, Democratic and Republican legislators in several states essentially have deferred the decision to voters. But on other issues, there is often a reason a proposal has not cleared the legislative process.

Generally speaking, its true that if the legislature thought it was a good idea, they would have done it already, said Craig Burnett, Hofstra University political science professor. Almost every policy proposed by initiative is almost by construction out of sync with what the legislature wants. If they really wanted it, they could have done it already.

That means passing the ballot initiative is only the first step. The real work begins afterward, Mr. Caldara said.

It all goes back to [Thomas] Jefferson saying the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Thats what this is, he said. Its not a victory until you secure and defend it year after year. Because they will find a way.

Original post:
With Republican turnaround, state legislatures now foil liberal ballot measures - Washington Times

RENSSELAER, N.Y. >> Three candidates will be running in the primary election to become the next mayor of Rensselaer.

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Dwyer will be running to keep the part-time position that he has had since being elected in 2006. However, Dwyer will have at least two Republican candidates trying to take his seat in November: Republican Carl Gottstein Jr. and the Republican Committee endorsed candidate is Jim Konstantakis.

Gottstein, 52, recently said that he wanted to run for mayor this year because he feels that the city has been in auto-pilot for many years, while Dwyer, 82, recently that he wanted to run again, so that he can finish things up that his administration has been working on.

Konstantakis, 67, said he officially announced that he was going to run as the endorsed Republican candidate after speaking to some people in the Republican Committee earlier in the year because he feels there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed in the city.

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I wanted to help restore the citys image; police are without a contract, ambulance services stopped, we used to have five or six fire companies in the city and I think we have two now, he said. These are the people who serve and protect us and risk their lives for us every day. We have to look into getting them a fair and equitable contract in a more timely fashion. They have families to feed, too.

Konstantakis admitted that he has never run for any elected office position before. Before retiring Konstantakis said that he was in the newspaper business as a journalist and copy editor for about 30 years in Albany, Virginia and in the southern tier of New York. He is a native of Rensselaer and lived in the city for 33 years; he then left for 19 years before returning.

Even though Konstantakis knows that he has no real experience being a politician, he said that he gained enough experience about government and politics from his career as a journalist.

If youre in the newspaper business, you get to learn about education, politics, sports, the arts or whatever your job entails in the newspaper business and I worked in all departments, so I have an idea how government works, explained Konstantakis.

GOP Committee co-chair, Ernie Dambrose, said in a news release that the committee believes Konstantakis is the right person to lead the city into the future for many different reasons.

Jim is the perfect candidate for us. His honesty and integrity are surpassed by no one. He wont tell you what you want to hear, said Dambrose in the news release. Because of his professional experience, hell give you the facts from all angles and expects the same respect in return. Hes sincerely a candidate for the people, not the party.

Konstantakis said he is also concerned about steep increases in water and sewer rates in the city that have negatively affected residents and rate-payers. He said those increases reduce investment in the city.

I realize that our taxes havent gone up recently, in fact it just went up for the first time in a few years this past year, but our trash fees have gone up and our water fees have gone up, said Konstantakis. Yeah, our taxes are good right now, but all our fees are going up and people still end up paying more out of pocket

Konstantakis admitted that Dwyer has been doing an all right job during his tenure as mayor of the city, but he still feels like more could be done to better benefit the city.

Mayor Dwyer has done a fine job of running the City of Rensselaer for several terms now, but its time for a more progressive and aggressive approach to move the city forward in a more expedient way, Konstantakis said. The city needs to see energy at the top. Residents of Rensselaer have always been, and remain, proud of the citys heritage. Unfortunately, the citys image has been somewhat tarnished in recent years and we need to fix that. Im kinda tired of people calling us Rentlr.

Konstantakis also served for about five years on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club and said that another goal of his if elected would be to utilize his experience in athletics to boost youth programs in the city and create more family oriented programs.

In addition to playing baseball in a competitive mens league locally as well as national tournaments in Arizona and Florida, Konstantakis has been a member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials since 2002.

In 2015-16, he was also the assistant boys basketball coach for Rensselaer High Schools modified program and this year was the head coach of the JV baseball team at LaSalle Institute in Troy.

We need many more opportunities and community leadership for our youth, he said. Our future, our community and our country depend on it. I do not know what I would have done without our kind and generous neighbors, the Rensselaer Boys Club (now the Boys and Girls Club) and Little League to kick start my life.

See the original post here:
Republican candidates emerge in Rensselaer mayoral race - Troy Record

By Theodore R. Johnson By Theodore R. Johnson August 4 at 6:00 AM

Theodore R. Johnson is a fellow at New America and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.

Two years before Donald Trump became president, he tweeted, Sadly, because president Obama has done such a poor job as president, you wont see another black president for generations! But six months into Trumps tenure, theres a growing buzz among Democrats that the next black president has already been identified: first-term Sen. Kamala Harris of California. Shes running for president, one fundraiser told the Hill. Take it to the bank. The dominant trend in Democratic Party politics is fresh, new and interesting, another fundraiser told Politico. And Kamala is the trifecta on that.

Im bullish on the idea that well have another black president. But its not a given that the next one will be a Democrat.

That might seem like a wild assertion, particularly given the role that racial resentment played in Trumps electoral victory. Its no secret that the GOP continues to fail spectacularly at messaging to black voters. The partys present approach to African Americans is best summed up by Trumps mockingly unserious entreaty last year to vote Republican: What the hell do you have to lose?

Black voters have lent long-standing and overwhelming support to the Democratic Party. And most of the nations rising black political stars are Democrats: Harris, Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) and former governor Deval Patrick (Mass.) who is, reportedly, the preferred candidate of several prominent Obama administration alumni, including Valerie Jarrett .

The conventional wisdom assumes that a black presidential candidate can succeed only in the more racially progressive of the two major parties the Democrats and with the widespread support of black voters. But this isnt necessarily so.

An examination of gubernatorial and senatorial elections since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 shows that there have been comparable numbers of popularly elected black Republicans (eight) and popularly elected black Democrats (10). Though the two black governors were Democrats, the majority of the 10 black lieutenant governors have been Republicans, including the two currently holding office: Jenean Hampton of Kentucky and Boyd Rutherford of Maryland. In the Senate, there have been two black Republicans to four Democrats. At the statewide level, where gerrymandered districts arent a factor, a black Republican in a top office is no more anomalous than a black Democrat.

More significant to the prospects for a black GOP presidential nominee is the specific convergence of trends playing out across the country, particularly the intensifying hyper-partisanship. As the nation has sorted itself along party lines and antipathy has risen between the two sides , white Republicans who might harbor racial animus are willing to shelve that impulse to ensure that Democrats lose elections. At a minimum, the level of ideological polarization in American politics masks racially prejudiced voting behavior, and at a maximum, it renders it inoperable, according to a recent study on white conservatives in the GOPs base from professors M.V. Hood of the University of Georgia and Seth McKee of Texas Tech. The pull of partisanship is so strong and has become so central to the identity of white Republicans that their views on race take a back seat when they enter the voting booth .

Hood and McKee also found that white conservatives are either more supportive of minority Republicans or just as likely to vote for a minority as they are a white Republican, and that the base of the GOP does not discriminate against minority nominees in high-profile contemporary general elections. This finding helps explain the relative surge in black Republicans in Congress since the tea party movement, including Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Reps. Mia Love (Utah), Will Hurd (Tex.) and Allen West (Fla.) not to mention Indian American former governors Nikki Haley (S.C.) and Bobby Jindal (La.).

This phenomenon also can provide an advantage to black candidates in primaries and the general election. In Republican primaries, voters are overwhelmingly white and are becoming more conservative; they tend to choose the more conservative candidate. Understanding this, minority candidates often run to the right flank. Its unsurprising, then, that Heritage Action for America, an advocacy organization associated with the conservative Heritage Foundation, scored Scott, Love and West as more conservative than the average House Republican. (Hurd, who represents a purple district that is majority Latino, necessarily tacks more to the center.)

Two related studies show that in South Carolina, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are more popular than their white Republican colleague Lindsey Graham, and that conservatives, evangelicals, and less-educated individuals respond more positively to Scott when he is described as a Tea Party favorite than as the first African American Senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction.

Consider Ben Carsons 2016 presidential campaign. Carson, an inexperienced politician, rode a strong evangelical message and critiques of the media both of which play well with conservative audiences to the top of the GOP presidential polls. He held steady there for a few weeks until terrorist attacks and national security concerns (not his strong suit) changed the tenor of the race in Trumps favor. In other words, its not that racial animus doesnt exist, its that the power of conservative identity can outweigh it.

The path to the presidency for GOP candidates requires winning a majority of white voters in the general election, not just the primaries. But every Republican presidential nominee since the Voting Rights Act has handily won white voters, except in 1968, 1992 and 1996 , when margins of victory were smaller because of somewhat competitive third-party candidates. In the current hyper-partisan atmosphere, if a black candidate can appeal to Republican voters, he or she can capture the same coalition that white Republicans use to win elections.

(Sarah Parnass,Osman Malik/The Washington Post)

The Democratic Party, for its part, is well aware of its poor performance among white voters and has begun focusing its attention on them, specifically the white working class. Post-election analysis shows that it was these voters, shifting from the Democratic Party to Trump, who were ultimately responsible for Hillary Clintons undoing. Some progressives have expressed concern that the partys attempts to win back white working-class voters will come at the expense of black voters, despite the fact that black voters are the most reliable part of the Democratic base. With its obsessive focus on wooing voters who supported Donald Trump, writes Brown Is the New White author Steve Phillips, the party is neglecting the cornerstone of its coalition.

The Democrats intramural debate was evident in the recent race for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship, when an ally of eventual winner Tom Perez said of Rep. Keith Ellison who, as the first black congressman from Minnesota and the first Muslim elected to Congress, holds more progressive positions than many others in the party Is he really the guy we need right now when we are trying to get all of those disaffected white working-class people to rally around our message of economic equality? This quote illustrates a desire to address oft-cited white economic anxiety by subordinating issues of race and religion. Now Democrats must determine whether their next electoral victory lies in recapturing the white working-class voters who used to be part of their base or doubling down on the demographics-is-destiny strategy, which prioritizes appeals to the growing segment of minority voters.

So while a black liberal is fighting upstream in a political climate of racial and ideological polarization, that same climate could work in favor of the black conservative candidate. And though black Democratic candidates often increase black voter turnout see 2008 and 2012 the rash of restrictive state voting laws has suppressed turnout among minority voters. Because a black Republican nominee doesnt rely on black voters, the electoral factors that hurt black Democratic candidates dont have nearly the same effect. In an irony befitting todays bizarre political landscape, a black Republican nominee may benefit electorally from discriminatory voting laws.

This leads to yet another trend that could help: growing black dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party. Even the election of a black Democrat to the presidency wasnt enough to compel the federal government to meet demands to address systemic racial disparities in a meaningful way. For all its loyalty to the party, the black electorate has not realized the policy gains that should accompany its voting power. Yet, black voters continue to support the Democratic Party for lack of viable options in the voting booth. This conundrum is called electoral capture, a concept that Princeton professor Paul Frymer describes as a blocs overwhelming support for one political party as a result of the opposing party having no interest in, or making no effort to win, the blocs votes. As a result, some black Americans have turned to other forms of political expression black turnout was down seven percentage points from 2012 to 2016 such as rallies and demonstrations, the Black Lives Matter movement, protest votes, and principled exits from the electoral process. Black Americans dissatisfaction hurt Democrats, not Republicans, on Election Day.

This is where black men put their finger on the scale. A black Republican nominee would peel away a small but significant portion of the black electorate, mostly men. Though black men largely hold liberal views, more of them than black women buy into the conservative mantra of self-determination, small government and economic sufficiency as a remedy to racial discrimination. Also, my research, supported by similar findings, found that black men are much more likely than black women to vote for a black presidential nominee regardless of party or policy views. This suggests that a black Republican candidate can cut into the Democratic base to some extent in the absence of a black Democratic candidate. If Trump managed to get 13percent of black men to vote for him (Mitt Romney drew 11 percent in 2012 against Obama), a black Republican candidate is certain to exceed that by some noticeable margin. And in a razor-thin election, black men voting along racial lines could help tip the outcome.

Taken together, the current landscape provides fertile soil for the idea of a black Republican in the White House. Of course, when it comes to the presidency and electoral politics, good conditions are hardly enough to win. There are simply too many other factors at play, from candidates likability to things they cant control, such as the state of the economy.

And race still matters: White Republican primary contenders could try to employ coded racial appeals to denigrate competitive black candidates (or to denigrate white candidates recall the George W. Bush teams attacks on Sen. John McCain during the 2000 South Carolina primary). Further, being black and very conservative is insufficient (recall the Alan Keyes, Herman Cain and Carson campaigns). And theres the reality that the Republican bench for viable black candidates is basically empty, except, perhaps, for Sen. Scott.

Still, if the notion of a black Republican presidency occurring before the next Democratic one seems doubtful, its becoming less so as our politics becomes more divided and stress fractures emerge in historic coalitions. Given the unpredictability and hyper-partisanship of the current political environment, the political winds now blowing could indeed fill the sails of a black Republican presidential nominee.

Twitter: @DrTedJ

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Read more from the original source:
Why the next black president could be a Republican - Washington Post

The Senate voted Thursday evening to confirm two Republican nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, one of whom accused natural gas pipeline opponents of waging a jihad against the agency.

Robert Powelson, a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission who made the accusation against pipeline opponents, and Neil Chatterjee, a senior energy policy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), were confirmed by unanimous consent.

The Senate just gave about as much attention to pushing through these FERC nominees as FERC gives to the impacts of fossil fuel projects they approve: Zero. This is a shameful day in shameful times for the U.S. Senate, David Turnbull, campaigns director at Oil Change International, said in a statement issued late Thursday.

Senators who vowed to stand up to President Donald Trump on climate change missed a major opportunity by confirming the two Republican nominees, Turnbull stated. The new wave of gas pipelines under FERC consideration would lock in dependence on fracked gas that we cannot afford to burn, while delaying our transition to clean energy, he added.

The five-member commission currently has only one commissioner, acting chair Cheryl LaFleur, and has been without a quorum since former FERC Chairman Norman Bay resigned in early February. FERC is responsible for permitting decisions on energy projects like natural gas pipelines and export terminals. The lack of a quorum has leftFERC unable to move such projects forward.

One nominee accused anti-pipeline activists of waging a jihad against the natural gas industry.

Simply put, FERC exists as a rubber stamp for the profit-driven whims of the fossil fuel industry, Food & Water Executive Director Wenonah Hauter said in a statement. The Senates action to put FERC back in business gives a shameful green light to advance a future of poisoning, polluting dirty energy in America.

Chatterjee will serve out the remainder of a term that ends in June 2021. Powelson, who also serves as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, will serve out the remainder of a term that ends in June 2020. With a quorum restored, our first order of business is the backlog of orders and issues that are awaiting commission consideration, LaFleuer, a Democrat, said in a statement Friday.

The White House has officially filed the paperwork need for two other nominees: Richard Glick, who serves as the Democratic counsel on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Republican Kevin McIntyre, an energy industry attorney with the Jones Day law firm. McIntyre is expected to serve as FERC chairman if confirmed by the Senate.

As with other independent federal agencies, FERC cannot have more than three commissioners from the same political party. The commission is expected to have three Republicans and two Democrats if the remaining two nominees are confirmed.

Powelson made his controversial remark in March while speaking to industry representatives at a conference in State College, Pennsylvania, according to a State Impact Pennsylvania report.The jihad has begun, he told the audience. At the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, groups actuallyshow up at commissioners homesto make sure we dont get this gas to market. How irresponsible is that?

In the same speech, Powelson also expressed his support for streamlining the pipeline permitting process.

Dozens of environmental groups have called for reforms that would force FERC to consider the concerns of communities and the climate impacts when reviewing natural gas infrastructure applications. In May, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), reintroducedlegislationto create an Office of Public Participation and Consumer Advocacy at the agency. Private citizens have expressed frustration that participating in FERCs complex proceedings is extremely challenging, the senators office said in a news release.

Shaheens bill, The Public Engagement at FERC Act, or S. 1240, would establish an office that would directly participate in FERC proceedings on rates, service, and infrastructure siting to represent the interests of residential and small commercial consumers and create a Public and Consumer Advocacy Advisory Committee for the office composed of representatives from the national and state-based nongovernmental consumer advocacy community.

Communities being harmed by FERCs virtually indiscriminate approval of gas pipelines will keep fighting each project and fighting for a just future. Unfortunately, Senators failed to stand with them today.Oil Change Internationals Turnbull said.

Read more from the original source:
Republican who said pipeline activists were waging 'jihad' confirmed to energy agency - ThinkProgress

After the repeal and replace debacle there is, yet again, a very public crisis for the soul of the Republican Party. (As if we Republicans actually have souls.)

This existential crisis for Republicans boils down to this one question: Is it the primary goal of Republicans to limit the growth of government, or should Republicans let government grow, but at a slower speed than Democrats?

This seems like an oversimplified and flippant question, but to understand this question is to understand why Republicans fail to govern.

Democrats (who of course do have souls, as witnessed by how much they care for people, with other peoples money) have their issues of infighting, turf wars and conflicts over strategy and tactics. But they dont have a constant battle over the overriding principle of their party.

All Democrats want to increase the size and scope of government. Their internal battle is over the speed at which it should be done.

But almost all Republicans say they are going to constrain government and reel in taxes, spending and regulations. Yet when given the chance, many dont. And it doesnt take but a few defections to make their attempt to govern fail.

John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins refused to vote to repeal even the tiniest parts of Obamacare, even though all three campaigned on repealing all of Obamacare.

The Colorado version of this was of course the recent Republican capitulation over the Hospital Provider Tax (Fee). Because Republican senate leadership crumbled like a Dixie cup, we will now be paying over half a billion dollars more a year in taxes, and taking on some $2 billion in new debt without even being asked first at the ballot box.

And some of those grow government but at a slower rate than Democrats state senators may have to answer for it in next years primaries. We will see how senators like Polly Lawrence, who is running for State Treasurer, and Owen Hill, who is challenging US Congressman Doug Lamborn, fare as pro-tax Republicans.

So, after failures on Obamacare nationally, and forsaking the Taxpayer Bill of Rights locally, the Republican partys dysfunction is laid bare for the world to see. Youd think that would force a cathartic process to fix the party. But it wont, because there are two Republican parties.

The Republican Party functions more like a parliamentary system. It cobbles together two fundamentally different groups to form a fragile coalition whose primary purpose is to keep the other team out of power.

Think of these two parties as the Taxpayer Party, who wish to shrink the Leviathan, and the Manager Party, who like a good legal custodian wishes to run the machinery more effectively.

The Taxpayer and Manager folks team up well in the minority. Both agree the Democrats are taxing, spending and regulating too much, too fast. But they have completely different operating systems which make them incompatible when they get in the majority.

You cant simultaneously shrink and grow government!

This rift isnt new. Over fifty year ago Barry Goldwater wrote Conscience of a Conservative in hopes of pulling Managers to the Taxpayer wing of the party. Current Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake is making the same call in his daring re-write of the same title.

But all this really causes is deception. Its not really about moderate versus conservative Republicans as the media labels it. They are Macs and PCs different operating systems.

In order to win, especially in primaries, members of the Manager Party must appeal to voters who prefer the Taxpayer Party, so they talk like them. And we foolishly believe them. But theyre still Managers. But what if they didnt have to campaign that way?

Will Republicans ever officially split into these two parties representing their two very different ideologies? Before Trump, I would have said no.

But imagine how refreshing and freeing it would be for folks like McCain, Collins and Murkowski (and here folks like Sonnenberg, Lawrence and Hill) to be able to campaign on their true beliefs and values to a group of primary voters who value their style of responsibly growing government.

Time to call the divorce attorneys?

Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute, a libertarian-conservative think tank in Denver, and host of Devils Advocate on Colorado Public Television.

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It's time for the Republican divorce - The Denver Post