GOP faces headwinds this election because of its total allegiance to Donald Trump | Opinion

I believe Matt Wylie misses important points on this presidential campaign in his recent column headlined “’Rhetoric’ is not a winning argument for Trump, GOP.”

We need to hear and watch what the two major candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, say and do.

Harris would not be “an unmitigated disaster as president,” as Wylie wrote. She wants healthy food for elementary students, a $25,000 stipend for first-time home buyers, a tax cut for the middle class and a health-care system that is helping millions through the Affordable Care Act.

And she doesn’t want to take your guns away. As a gun owner, she wants to improve gun safety.

Recently, more than 100 Republican former national security leaders endorsed Harris for president and cited facts in condemning Trump. As vice president, Harris has worked with our senior military and national security leaders alongside President Joe Biden. She knows and understands how to maintain a strong defense to deter potential enemies. She is a determined and respectful advocate for our veterans.

Where is the supposed Biden-Harris rhetoric that “eggs on” potential assassins?

Conversely, Trump demeans anyone he believes does not support him 100%. He “hates” Taylor Swift. He calls Harris “comrade, crazy, stupid” and worse, and a cable news commentator a “‘dumb as a rock’ bimbo.”

His former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, says Trump called veterans “suckers” and “losers.” He’s had “love letters” with Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea. He gave Russia a green light to attack NATO members who don’t meet defense spending targets when he told one, “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”

These Trump statements and actions are infinitely more dangerous to our national security and national character.

Before you say, “But I like his programs and what he does, not what he says,” let me postulate that a person’s character is one of the most important attributes any president of the United States can possess and demonstrate to our citizens and to the world. It does matter what a president says and obviously believes.

As a retired 26-year active duty Air Force officer and 13-year career civilian in the Defense Department, I do not believe my fellow veterans are suckers or losers. Nor do I believe that the late Sen. John McCain, who spent five years in a North Vietnamese prison, was any less than “people who weren’t captured.”

Wylie writes, “Good Republican candidates are ... facing electoral headwinds because of Trump.” They’re facing headwinds because of their total allegiance to Trump.

In this election cycle, it is necessary and paramount that we oust the MAGA Republicans so that the once noble GOP can be reborn as the party it was in past times with such leaders as McCain, Mitt Romney, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush and yes, even George W. Bush. These Republican leaders possessed character.

We need a right-of-center Republican Party to produce policies that the American people can consider and vote on just as they would those policies of a left-of-center Democratic Party. I believe the result would be policies, based on compromise and good will, that would be to the benefit of us all.

Lotz is a community activist, former chair of the Beaufort County Democratic Party and a 2024 Democratic National Convention delegate. Editor’s note: We have a policy not to publish unsolicited endorsements in contested South Carolina elections. We are publishing this to show we invite feedback and to encourage readers to respond to all of our opinion journalism to foster community conversation.