If it’s the Friday before Election Day 2018, it must be…the “Final Flip” of this election cycle. Go Dems!
Flip-A-District Friday: Volume X
Welcome to the Final Flip.
We’re almost there – just 4 days away from the most consequential midterm in a generation.
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni may have said it best:
To blunt Trump’s attack on our democracy, we have to use our democracy. We can restore faith in it by showing faith in it. For all its corruptions and imperfections, it still gives us a power — through our ballots — that exceeds even the most power-hungry president’s.
(link here)
Democrats have been knocking on doors, making phone calls, and working hard to spread the word about our great Democratic candidates and to get out the vote. But some Republicans are (somehow) still on the fence. If you know someone who typically votes Republican, but who might not be sure yet whether to vote blue on November 6th, forward them this email.
Every. Vote. Counts.
We’ve compiled a list of five prominent conservatives who have written eloquently about why they’ll be voting for Democrats on Tuesday. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I hope it will convince anyone who is thinking about either voting Republican or sitting out this election to vote for Democrats at this critical time.
Who: Max Boot
Background: Conservative American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer, and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for Christian Science Monitor and then for The Wall Street Journal in the 1990s.
Article: Vote against all Republicans. Every single one. (If you only have time to read one of these articles, read this one”
Notable quotes:
– “And I’m sick and tired of Republicans who go along with Trump — defending, abetting and imitating his egregious excesses.”
– “Most of all, I’m sick and tired of Republicans who feel that Trump’s blatant bigotry gives them license to do the same — with Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex.) denouncing his opponent as an “Indo-American carpetbagger,” Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis warning voters not to “monkey this up” by electing his African American opponent, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.) labeling his “Palestinian Mexican” opponent a “security risk” who is “working to infiltrate Congress,” and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) accusing his opponent, who is of Indian Tibetan heritage, of “selling out Americans” because he once worked at a law firm that settled terrorism-related cases against Libya.”
– “If you’re sick and tired, too, here is what you can do. Vote for Democrats on Tuesday. For every office. Regardless of who they are. And I say that as a former Republican. Some Republicans in suburban districts may claim they aren’t for Trump. Don’t believe them. Whatever their private qualms, no Republicans have consistently held Trump to account. They are too scared that doing so will hurt their chances of reelection. If you’re as sick and tired as I am of being sick and tired about what’s going on, vote against all Republicans. Every single one. That’s the only message they will understand.”
Who: George Will
Background: Conservative Washington Post columnist
Article: Vote against the GOP this November
Notable quotes:
– “By leaving dormant the powers inherent in their institution, [Republicans] vitiate the Constitution’s vital principle: the separation of powers.
– “In today’s GOP, which is the president’s plaything, he is the mainstream. So, to vote against his party’s cowering congressional caucuses is to affirm the nation’s honor while quarantining him.”
Who: Steve Schmidt
Background: Senior Adviser to the presidential campaign of the late Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Notable quotes:
– “29 years and nine months ago I registered to vote and became a member of The Republican Party which was founded in 1854 to oppose slavery and stand for the dignity of human life. Today I renounce my membership in the Republican Party. It is fully the party of Trump.”
– “I have spent much of my life working in GOP politics. I have always believed that both parties were two of the most important institutions to the advancement of human freedom and dignity in the history of the world. Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and values.”
– “This Independent voter will be aligned with the only party left in America that stands for what is right and decent and remains fidelitous to our Republic, objective truth, the rule of law and our Allies. That party is the Democratic Party.”
Who: Peter Wehner
Background: Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank.
Article: Why I Can No Longer Call Myself an Evangelical Republican
Notable quotes:
– “I consider Mr. Trump’s Republican Party to be a threat to conservatism, and I have concluded that the term evangelical — despite its rich history of proclaiming the “good news” of Christ to a broken world — has been so distorted that it is now undermining the Christian witness.”
– “Assume you were a person of the left and an atheist, and you decided to create a couple of people in a laboratory to discredit the Republican Party and white evangelical Christianity. You could hardly choose two more perfect men than Donald Trump and Roy Moore.”
Who: Tom Nichols
Background: Self-proclaimed “moderate conservative” who is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College
Article: Want to save the GOP, Republicans? Vote for every Democrat on this year’s ballot.
Notable quotes:
– “Every seat Republicans keep in 2018 will be a signal to the national party, and to GOP leaders in Congress, that they should continue supporting Trump, no matter how outrageous his antics, and no matter how much they privately disagree. Every vote for any GOP candidate will be a signal from the rank and file that elected Republican officials should remain supine while Trump takes a hatchet to the American political system.”
– “Conservatives who insist on voting Republican this year are, in effect, arguing that Democrats are worse than a president who has prostrated himself to Putin, started trade wars with our allies, cruelly separated families at the border, failed to deliver adequate aid to Americans in Puerto Rico and who has, as retired admiral Bill McRaven recently wrote for The Post, “embarrassed us in the eyes of our children.” They expect other conservatives to look away from all this in exchange for packing as many conservatives onto the federal bench as they can before the Trump administration implodes.”
– “Republicans — real Republicans — must reject this deal, because conservatives — real conservatives — can’t have it both ways: Those who claim to oppose Trump and Trumpism can’t, at the last moment, back away from voting to strip power from the party enabling him.”
This concludes our final Flip-a-District for the 2018 cycle. Remember to vote Tuesday and consider bringing a friend (or five!) – you can find your polling place here.
Best,
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