Utah Republican Leaders Lining Up—Reluctantly—Behind Trump
This was the headline last week. The article underneath it included quotes from the governor and members or representatives of the Utah congressional delegation calling for the party to get behind Donald Trump. Each of these people is on record as being anti-trump. One recently referred to him as, “our Mussolini.”
The rationale, of course, is political expediency. The reasoning goes, “We hate Trump, we think he is fundamentally wrong for the country and personally offensive, but we have to support him because our version of fundamentally wrong is better than their version of fundamentally wrong.” This line of thought may play well between the ears of those who voice it, but outside of their heads, it just sounds like a lack of character.
And really—for Utah at least—the stakes of our leaders standing on character couldn’t be lower.
If we’re honest, we have to acknowledge that Utah doesn’t count. The Republican party doesn’t pay attention to the state because we will always go Republican. The Democrats ignore us for the same reason. Unpack the argument that if we don’t unite behind Trump, Hillary will win and find that:
- There is zero chance that any of Utah’s six measly electoral votes will go to a democrat.
- There is an insignificant chance that Utah’s refusal to fall in line will have any impact on the larger race—mostly because of #1.
- There is no guarantee that even with Utah’s acquiescence, Trump will win.
Given these three reasons, why should the republican leadership of Utah not stand up for what they really believe? Waking up to look at a Hillary presidency for four years may not be worse than waking to look at yourself in the mirror everyday knowing that you traded your character for a mess (pun intended) of political pottage.