- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 17,867
- Reaction score
- 8,344
- Location
- On an island. Not that one!
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Socialist
I found this to be an interesting read. One can hope that some who label themselves 'conservative' will take the time to read the piece and then think about what Mr Stevens had to say - in his book and during the interview. I wonder if Stevens has worked with the Lincoln Project.
The following is what most struck me about Stevens thoughts and regrets
"Two Republican parties" caused me to think of a gentleman I knew while living in Palm Beach. An immigrant, who came to the States with his family when he was 12. When he retired he was an executive VP for one of the largest companies in America. A life-long Republican, he donated at least $100,000/year from 1980 until 2000. He kept his personal values but he felt the party had changed from the one he had first joined in the 1960s. If he were alive today, I know he would be giving money to Joe Biden's campaign.
‘He’s Destroyed Conservatism’: The Republican Case Against Trump’s GOP
Stuart Stevens was a winning GOP operative. Now he feels terrible about what he’s done to the country.
Stuart Stevens spent four decades helping Republicans—a lot of Republicans—win. He’s one of the most successful political operatives of his generation, crafting ads and devising strategies for President George W. Bush, Republican presidential nominees Mitt Romney and Bob Dole, and dozens of GOP governors, senators and congressmen. He didn’t win every race, but he thinks he had the best won-lost record in Republican campaign world.
And now he feels terrible about it.
Stevens now believes the Republican Party is, not to put too fine a point on it, a malign force jeopardizing the survival of American democracy. He’s written a searing apologia of a book called It Was All a Lie that compares his lifelong party to the Mafia, to Bernie Madoff’s fraud scheme, to the segregationist movement, even to the Nazis. He’s pretty disillusioned.
The following is what most struck me about Stevens thoughts and regrets
What’s been the reaction of the people you used to work with?
I really don’t talk to most of those people. Look, I wanted to be careful not to make the book a bill of indictment against individuals, because that’s a cop-out. If I’m saying it’s a collective problem, and I want to start with personal responsibility. It’s countermessaging to say this person did this, that person did that. Look, these people know who they are. [. . .] They all know something wrong has happened in the party. For the most part, they’re just quiet about it. You won’t hear them defend Trump except as a necessary evil.
You know, it really struck me when I read the memoir by [the late German Chancellor] Franz von Papen, it’s exactly the same message you hear today. In 1953, he was still trying to justify Hitler: “You have to understand, the Bolsheviks were a threat, we had to counter them.” Of all the books I read to write my book, the Franz von Papen thing haunts me the most. It’s not to say that what happened in Germany is going to happen here. But the idea that you can’t talk about that—well, I think you have to talk about that. The parallel is so striking.
That’s pretty harsh. What’s the specific parallel you’re talking about?
You have good people letting evil happen. For the most part, these Republicans aren’t bad people. If you moved in next door, they’d be a great neighbor.
You talk about personal responsibility in the book, but I never got a clear sense of what you think your personal responsibility was for all this. What did you do wrong?
STEVENS: You know, I ask myself that all the time. I worked for people I liked and admired, people I wanted to win. I didn’t work for the Jesse Helmses of the world. Really, there are two Republican parties, even now.
I helped elect a lot of Republicans. My firm, which I left a year and a half ago, was more successful at electing Republicans than anyone else. And this is how the party has ended up. So how could I not have some responsibility? I can’t square that circle. There’s a genre of book that’s very popular in Washington: “If Only They Had Listened to Me.” I didn’t want to write that book, because they did listen to me!
"Two Republican parties" caused me to think of a gentleman I knew while living in Palm Beach. An immigrant, who came to the States with his family when he was 12. When he retired he was an executive VP for one of the largest companies in America. A life-long Republican, he donated at least $100,000/year from 1980 until 2000. He kept his personal values but he felt the party had changed from the one he had first joined in the 1960s. If he were alive today, I know he would be giving money to Joe Biden's campaign.