by Stacey Robertson, U.S. Army, Retired

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you are aware, the Republican Party resembles an ant hill that has been stepped on. This is all too easy to see, just by looking at the diversity of candidates running for President, and the easy come, easy go attitude of likely Republican voters in the polls.

I myself am a conservative. I almost always vote Republican although I like to call myself an Independent. From where I sit, you guys are making a big mistake right now by not letting nature take its course this election season.

You have an opportunity to rebuild the Republican Party from the ground up, and you are wasting it by getting too involved in the process. If you want to personally, individually endorse a particular candidate, go ahead. If you want to campaign for a particular candidate, go ahead. But remember that you are in positions of leadership. Boldly alienating voters will not aid in the achievement of your ultimate goal, which I assume is a robust, diverse, enthusiastic, and loyal voting pool, for the purpose of ousting President Obama from office.

This is your ultimate goal, right?

Times have clearly changed. The “Members Only Club” mentality will not get you back into the White House. You have, what, seven candidates running for President under the party brand? You do not welcome each and every one of them with open arms at your own peril.

Imagine trying to fight that cowlick on your head. Don’t deny it – everyone has at least one. How many years ago did you give up fighting that cowlick? After trying everything you could think of, you finally figured out that you would never control it. Eventually, you stopped fighting it and began working with it in its natural form. Did you at any point accuse your cowlick of “hijacking” your hair? Did you ever chop that cowlick off? How did that work out?

You have the same problem within the Republican Party, whether you want to admit it or not. The party is no longer united – it is full of “cowlicks”. They want to be a valued part of the party that represents the conservative line of thought, but their positions on issues are mocked and shunned, and as a result, they are shunned, to the detriment of the party.

You have access to a massive population of disenfranchised voters who only want to have a voice and participate in the election process. And what are you doing? You’re fighting them. You’re minimizing them. You’re ignoring their existence. You call them liberal, fringe, radical, wacky, loony, unpatriotic, un-American. They want to be a part of your club and you won’t let them because they don’t fit into your standards for admission.

You have two choices at this point, it seems. You can for once allow the election cycle to naturally play itself out, and may the best man or woman win. Stay out of it and stop trying to fight it and influence it. You are not helping your cause by interfering, and the days of the Old Republican Party are over. You are the only ones who refuse to see this. “Republican In Name Only” has absolutely no meaning because no one really knows what a Republican is these days. Give the party a chance to figure it out on its own. If you do this, you have a much better chance of gaining willing and enthusiastic support and votes during the general Presidential election.

Or, you can continue as you are, and in the process, limit your voting pool and lose the White House to President Obama a second time.

The choice is yours.

The Republican Party has lost its way. For the sake of our country and the party, please back off and watch what happens.

Sincerely,

Stacey Robertson