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A plea to California conservatives: Time to choose between supporting democracy or Trump

As the dark shadow of rising authoritarianism descended on the European continent in the late 1930s, Neville Chamberlain, Britain’s Prime Minister and head of the Conservative Party, faced his most consequential moment. It determined the direction of the modern world.

After years of dismissing German attacks on democracy, Chamberlain famously signed the Munich Agreement, ceding the Sudetenland to Hitler as an attempt to “appease” the growing menace.

Establishment conservatives like Chamberlain believed that kindness, silence and appeasement were sufficient to stop danger’s march. They were wrong, and Europe burned.

Opinion

Today, history echoes for conservatives in the Republican Party of the United States. No, we are not witnessing the rise of a new Adolf Hitler or Third Reich, but we are demonstrably witnessing the rise of a dangerous authoritarian movement.

The Republican National Committee has long stopped resembling the party most earnest conservatives once joined. The moral question for California Republicans has moved from an inside-the-Beltway discussion, where the hope of principled leadership has not materialized, to state and local parties that now provide the oxygen for an extremist movement.

Today many California Republican politicians, political consultants, lobbyists and donors are ignoring an extremist cause through inaction.

Militia-backed movements have been attempting to take over Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors. Anti-vaccine extremists are threatening public officials in Orange County, the Central Coast and the Peninsula. California is experiencing a record number of school board recall elections, fueled largely by anti-mask activists and outrage driven by Fox News over critical race theory.

Unfortunately, like a middle-aged man yearning for his glory days as the high school quarterback, too many California Republican political consultants look back at the peak of their careers 20 years ago, convinced that they can bring it all back again if just given the chance.

Attend any fundraising reception in Sacramento, and nearly every Republican lobbyist there will loudly lament the rise of former President Donald Trump, only to advise their clients to continue contributing to a party that degrades confidence in our government, promotes anti-vaccine ideology, attacks a free press and excuses a violent attempt to overturn a presidential election.

The Republican donor class in California, long considered the ATM of presidential campaigns, boasts of its status as the group that contributed more than $60 million to Trump and helped Trump outraise President Joe Biden in a majority of California zip codes.

This is where the California Republican political class finds itself. The old posters of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush are yellowing on downtown Sacramento office walls, a remnant of a party that is long gone and never coming back. The current party is a financial and political enabler of Trump and those who dispute this need to look in the mirror.

To those who say they oppose the extremism: Stop advising candidates who delegitimize elections, attack the press and undermine public health. Stop lobbying for interests that rely on the politicians mentioned above. Stop contributing to politicians and parties that sow racial discord, lie about voter fraud and actively work to limit the franchise. Stop appeasing the clear threats to our democracy. And if you continue to do these things, stop pretending you care about democracy.

As with Chamberlain and the conservative wing of his own party, it may be difficult to discern if the delusion stems from cowardice, greed or ignorance of history, but the result is likely to be the same: growing authoritarian extremism.

Now is a time for choosing. History is replete with examples of where appeasement has failed. Don’t let this moment be another.

Mike Madrid is a former political director of the California Republican Party and a co-founder of Grassroots Lab, a Sacramento-based public relations firm.

Mike Madrid is a former political director of the California Republican Party and a co-founder of Grassroots Lab, a Sacramento-based public relations firm.
Mike Madrid is a former political director of the California Republican Party and a co-founder of Grassroots Lab, a Sacramento-based public relations firm.