A letter to Mitt Romney

A letter to Mitt Romney.

I write to you not as a fellow conservative, not as a fellow partisan, but as a citizen of our republic. You have served your nation admirably for many years and by any ordinary standard are entitled to a happy retirement. But these are extraordinary times, and your nation still has need of your service. I respectfully implore you to run for president as an independent candidate in 2016.

America is not bound by a shared nationality, religion, or even geography, but a commitment to certain ideals—that all people are created equal, endowed by God with inalienable rights, and that government is instituted to secure these blessings. This is the republican creed that has animated our experiment in self-government for 240 years. And yet neither of the major party candidates represents it.

Donald Trump is a sympathizer with the nativist "alt-right," a twisted and angry ideology that views the world through a racialist lens. Worse, his intemperance knows no bounds, making him liable to lash out at any (real or perceived) rivals. These qualities combined in an awful spectacle this week when he claimed that the judge in the Trump University case was biased—simply because he is of Mexican descent. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is running as the heir to the Obama administration, which has shredded our constitutional system of checks and balances in its never-ending quest to favor Democratic client groups. Worse, she and her husband have personal problems as well, including a Nixonian paranoia of their "enemies" that has induced them to subvert the rule of law at many points through their careers.

Neither Trump or Clinton is committed to the republican tradition of government of the people, by the people, and for all the people. They do not see Americans as Americans. They see each of us as potential allies or foes, depending upon their small-minded political calculations. And it is not unreasonable to fear that they will wield the mighty powers of the executive branch accordingly.

The nation needs a candidate to defend what Martin Van Buren once called "plain republicanism," and to do so regardless of the chances of victory. Van Buren himself furnishes an inspiring example. By the 1840s, the country was coming to grips with the problem of slavery, but the two parties staunchly ignored the issue. In 1848, the Democrats embraced the morally vacuous position of "popular sovereignty." Meanwhile, the Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor, a southern slaveholder who took no positions on any issues and who indeed had never voted in his lifetime. Neither party had the courage to recognize that slavery was a threat to the republic and at the least must be contained. So Van Buren rose to the occasion. Coming out of retirement, he accepted the nomination of the Free Soil party, and though he only received 11 percent of the vote, the principles for which he stood were eventually vindicated—when Abraham Lincoln won the White House twelve years later.

A true statesman is called to the same task in 2016—to defend the principles upon which our republic was founded, regardless of the chances of victory. Unfortunately, such leaders are always in short supply. Most politicians are interested only in protecting their small quantums of power, and are content to ebb and flow with the tide. Most of those with the strength of character to appreciate the need for an independent candidate are not able to answer the call. After all, the task of running for president is a difficult one. It requires an able-bodied candidate with experience in the political arena, access to resources, and the time to dedicate himself fully to the mission.

This cycle, it also requires somebody who can withstand the vitriol that Trump and Clinton are sure to unfurl. Totally consumed by ambition for higher office, they are unconstrained by any sense of decency and have time and again launched the most base attacks. Trump exploited nativist grievances against Ted Cruz this winter, falsely slandering him as un-American. Clinton is no better. Liberals accuse conservatives of racialized attacks against President Obama, but the truth is that her campaign in 2008 was the first to deal that card from the bottom of the deck. An independent candidate must already have a reputation for integrity with the voters, otherwise the slanders from Trump and Clinton may prove overwhelming.

Governor Romney, there is nobody else but you who is capable of such a bid. It is a credit to your modesty and sense of decency that you demurred and instead tried persuade others to run. But there really is nobody else. General James Mattis, Senators Ben Sasse and Tom Coburn, and David French are all estimable men, but the enormity of the task was too great for them to accept. Only you possess the experience, the political network, the good health, and the time to dedicate to this great endeavor. Only you have the standing with the voters to endure the assaults of Trump and Clinton.

This is an incredible request, but you know that some Americans are called by Providence to give more than others. George Washington defended his nation during the Seven Years War, led it to independence in the Revolution, and by 1788 he wanted only to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon. But the nation needed him to launch the new government, so he answered the call. Four years later, he again wished for nothing more than the peaceful life of a country planter, but the harmony of the fragile union required yet another commitment from him. Again, he answered the call.

This country has received blessing upon blessing since Washington's day, and it is not in nearly as precarious a state now as it was then. But as you know the situation it faces is nevertheless grave. It requires a statesman of the first rank to hold high the standard for the values that have animated the United States since its founding.

Please, Governor Romney, run for president once more.