To my fellow Americans, whose party is not my own:
As the mid-term elections approach, it is becoming harder and harder to listen to the statements made by so many candidates running under your party's banner. Harder still to see how they live their lives and conduct their businesses.
I won't belabor the details. You know what I'm talking about. Money-laundering, hiring undocumented immigrants, campaigning against Social Security, taking anonymous corporate contributions.
"I am not a witch."
Playing Nazi for fun, for god's sake.
I find this parade of psychopaths and criminals disgusting, and degrading to our nation and the principles for which it stands. I would hope you do as well. And are willing to stand against such ugliness, not only in the privacy of the voting booth, but publicly.
In presidential election years, you'll often find groups of one party advocating a candidate of the other. "Republicans for Obama." "Democrats for McCain/Palin." It's not a phenomenon that shows up too much in off-years, though I don't see why not in a year like this, with such clearly unqualified and unprincipled candidates.
So, my friends, my neighbors, my countrymen, I'm asking you to step forward and repudiate the madness that has overtaken your party this year, to publicly stand with your opponents. I know you can't agree with every program the Democrats support. I don't, myself.
But I also know that many of you, most of you, know the difference between right and wrong, between lies and truth, between an honest disagreement and vicious character assassination.
I'm asking you to publicly come together under a banner of Republicans for a Democratic Congress (or whatever name you wish), to stand against the ugliness and pettiness that permeates your party today. I cannot found or join such an organization, because I have never been a member of your party and, unlike so many of the groups supporting candidates this year, I would prefer this one to be honestly what it claims to be, not merely a name and a post office box and a bank account supplied by the Chamber of Commerce or some similar corporate group.
Republicans, I know you are decent people, good citizens, patriots. Please, just this year, cross the line. For the sake of your country.
And your party.
In case you think this is just a ploy by a rabid yellow dog to embarrass you or your party, I felt I should add a postscript:
In the last election cycle, I crossed party lines and voted for a Republican for Congress. Because my Democratic congressman was so obviously corrupt, and his dodging and ducking of prosecutors so crippled his ability to serve the people in our district in any meaningful way, that I felt it was the best thing to do--for my district, for the country and for the party that I love and believe in.
That ex-congressman now spends most of his time huddled with lawyers, plotting appeal strategies and doing all he can to avoid the jail term that awaits him. His replacement has done a decent job representing the people of our district and, while I am voting for his Democratic opponent, I am happy that he won that cycle and saved our district, state and party further humiliation.
No matter how long your ties, how fierce your partisanship, when the people who represent your side are just too stupid, crazy, venal or cynical, sometimes you have to simply do the right thing and stand against your own side.
Thanks for listening.