Hang Together or Hang Separately?

Over the years that I have followed politics there has been one major difference between the two major political parties in the United States.

Democrats always circle the wagons around their own. They don't admit mistakes. They don't criticize their leader. They always stick to the party line. They always stick together no matter how bad it seems to be.

The Republicans follow a completely different path. I don't know if it is because they believe they are driven by values and virtues but they are far less likely to stay the course on anything. There seems to be no glue holding any of them together.

Democrats follow the advice that Benjamin Franklin gave his fellow signers of the Declaration of Independence shortly after they declared independence from Great Britain.

“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Republicans, on the other hand, seem to follow this 16th century proverb.

"Every man for himself and the Devil take the hindmost."

Contrast the difference in how the impeachment proceedings of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton played out.

Richard Nixon lost the support of a minority in his own party when there were impeachment hearings and was forced to resign.

Bill Clinton was actually impeached by the full House (only 5 Democrats voted for one of the articles of impeachment) but not one Democrat in the Senate voted for his conviction.

Bill Clinton would not have survived in office if the Democrats had not stuck together.

Richard Nixon did not survive because his own party did not hang together behind him.

Consider as well the differences we already see between the Obama and Trump administrations.

Barack Obama's administration was wracked by scandal upon scandal.

Benghazi.

IRS scandal.

Hillary Clinton email server.

Solyndra.

Operation Fast and Furious.

Spying on Journalists.

NSA spying scandal.

Iran nuclear deal and ransom payment.

How many times did Democrats say these should be investigated more fully even though there were massive conflicts of interest involving the Obama Administration and its Justice Department?

ZERO.

How many special counsels or independent prosecutors were appointed?

ZERO.

However, here we are barely four months into the Trump administration and we already have a special counsel appointed to investigate Russian collusion in the election.

Would this have happened to Hillary Clinton if the tables were reversed? Not in a million years.

The Democrats would never have allowed it.

Just as important, the media would not have allowed  it.

The media actively turned down the volume on every one of the scandals mentioned above to protect Obama and the Democrats. With regard to Trump and the Republicans, the media does nothing but amplify anything and everything they can to advance their anti-Trump agenda.

Of course, Donald Trump has one other problem that is unique to him.

He is not really accepted by the Republicans on Capitol Hill as one of their own. Therefore, it makes evereything even more difficult for President Trump. He truly is in the swamp and most Republicans officeholders would be just as happy to see him bogged down in their swamp. There are probably only a handful that are truly interested in giving him a hand at draining the swamp.

Does the GOP have it wrong?

Do the Democrats have it right?

I would not like to think that circling the wagons and ignoring all values and principles is the way to conduct yourself. However, you have to look at the facts.  The Democrats have gotten the results they wanted. The Republicans win elections but get very little in the way of results.

Like it or not, Trump now represents the Republican Party in the minds of most Americans. Those GOP officeholders might think there is some distinction between themselves and Trump but I can guarantee you it is lost on 90% of Americans.

I wrote about all of this last June right at the time that Trump was securing the nomination but when many GOP officeholders were on the fence about Trump in a blog post titled "Risky Business".

Every Republican politician has to make a high risk decision whether they are on or off the Trump Train. It is a decision fraught with risk to those in office.

The people are sovereign in our system. Their power is absolute  Unfortunately, too many people don't believe it. The simple fact is that politicians have no power unless the people provide it.

Laws that do not have public backing do not survive over the long term. Lawmakers who make laws that people do not support do not stay in office very long. Politicians who do not do the will of the people soon need to find other employment.

We have heard many in the Republican Establishment say that Donald Trump does not represent the principles and values of the Republican Party. He might not represent what the Republican Party has been heretofore. However, if he wins in November, Donald Trump will be the Republican Party. The people will have made the decision of what it now stands for and against. Those that aren't supporting Trump will be at risk of not serving much longer. That is just the way the power of the people works. 

The Republicans on Capitol Hill need to understand what Benjamin Franklin said and what the Democrats practice.

They better starting learning to hang together.

If not, they will assuredly all hang separately in the very near future.