Dear Editor,
The Republican Party has been building toward Donald Trump since 1992. They lost the White House, to which, after 12 years, they seemed to feel entitled. They dealt with the Clinton Administration as if they viewed him as a placeholder. They seemed to think if they obstructed and prevented him from any success the voters would rush in and return them to office.
In 1996 they chose a poor candidate in Bob Dole. The country wasn’t ready to take the mantle of leadership from a young president and give it to a generation that had passed its prime. In 2000 they made a bigger mistake by picking George W. Bush. He was fortunate to find the country in an “anyone but Clinton mood”, yet he lost the popular vote and was anointed president by the Supreme Court.
Bush confirmed that he wasn’t up to the task in so many ways, making it easier for an inexperienced unknown with an oratorical gift and a vision for the county to easily win. Again, the Republicans obstructed, vowing to make him a one-term president. Again they failed. And in the process they have also failed to develop people capable of leading this country or a vision of where the country should be going.
When a field of 17 winnows down to Donald Trump, you know there is a problem. When Republican leaders disavow Trump insults and rhetoric but insist on supporting him because he is the party’s nominee, you know something has gone horribly wrong. Clearly they place party before country. How can a party, willing to do that, be trusted with leadership? That’s not leadership, it is simply desire for power.
Bob Wynhausen
Sandpoint
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