Chris Vance

One party rule is not healthy. Washington needs the GOP to again be a viable alternative to the Democrats.

I went from Republican to Independent, to the new Forward Party, back to Independent, and now back to being a Republican. In the end I don’t think I learned anything new during my journey. Instead, it confirmed for me basic facts about our democracy.

"We are confident that at heart, millions of Republicans still support the Constitution and the rule of law and want a government that will unite rather than divide Americans."

Some will remember Dan Evans as a fearless political warrior, fighting for a Republican Party that was not just moderate, but proudly progressive.

Despite the years of bitter struggle, the differences between the Evans supporters and the Reaganites were really rather subtle.

Republicans are a danger to democracy and the Constitution, yet Democrats seem unable or unwilling to unite behind a centrist agenda to stop them.

This drives Democrats crazy, but most suburbanites live paycheck to paycheck and have had to stretch to afford the mortgage on our house, so we do not want our taxes raised. And when you say you just want to tax “the rich,” we don’t believe you. Besides, we all want to be rich someday.

The Republican Party has not exactly split – yet – but chunks of it are breaking off. This new center-right movement is a reality. But where does it go from here?

If the 2020 election results had matched the polling, Republicans would have suffered a comprehensive, crushing defeat that might have broken the fever of Trumpism and helped more traditional Republicans restore the GOP to sanity. Unfortunately, the polls were wrong again.

Many of us are in discussions about the possibility of creating a new party, or a new political faction.