2 Republicans Make Unusual Request: Vote Democratic

Anti-Trump moderates say it's necessary for the good of the country
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 12, 2021 10:20 AM CDT
Republicans' Unusual Plea: Elect Democrats
Former EPA chief and New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman on the floor of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Not unusual: The New York Times is running an opinion piece urging people to vote Democratic in the upcoming midterms. The weird part: The piece is authored by two Republicans. Specifically, it's Christine Todd Whitman, the former governor of New Jersey who ran the EPA under George W. Bush, and Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official most famous for writing an anonymous-at-the-time diatribe against the Trump administration while he was still serving under it. They describe themselves as anti-Trump moderates who argue that fellow Republicans should vote in moderate Democrats over "political extremists" in the GOP who back Trump. Even if the idea of electing Democrats is unpalatable to Republicans, it's for the greater good, they argue.

The "best hope for the rational remnants of the Republican Party is for us to form an alliance with Democrats to defend American institutions, defeat far-right candidates, and elect honorable representatives next year—including a strong contingent of moderate Democrats," they write. Longer term, the pair say that moderate Republicans might have to splinter off into their own third party, but keeping pro-Trump Republicans out of power in the interim is a necessary first step, they write. They cite Democratic names such as Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, as well as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. A larger slate of 2022 candidates they support will be released next week as part of the Renew America Movement. Read the full essay. (More Christine Todd Whitman stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X