Local opinion: A Democrat addresses Republicans
Dear Republicans,
Greetings from a troubled Democrat concerned about the future of our democracy. If you're tired of democracy and feel it's time to try a different form of government, you need not read any further. However, if like me you'd like to keep our democracy going, please bear with me.
Remember back in 2020 when Donald Trump, the president you'd helped elect four years earlier, couldn't believe he'd lost the election? He refused to believe it even after numerous lawsuits, plus an audit conducted in my home state of Arizona, failed to find any evidence of election fraud. In a speech January 6, 2021, Trump told a crowd, "You had better fight like hell, or you're not going to have a country anymore!" Listeners took that to mean they should storm the Capitol, attack police, and try to get my vote thrown out.
One eyewitness on the scene that day later remarked that Trump bore moral responsibility for the storming of the Capitol. Was Trump's accuser a wild-eyed, hysterical Democrat? Hardly. The one making that statement was a leading Republican in the Senate. Does the name Mitch McConnell ring a bell?
Despite pressure from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence declined to hold up certification of election results, saying he lacked the legal authority to do so. Outraged, the mob at the Capitol erected a gallows for him. Only quick action on the part of his security team prevented his death by hanging. Trump's reported response upon hearing his VP was in danger: "So what?" No Vice President, Republican or Democrat, deserves the treatment Pence got for obeying laws designed to protect my vote.
Word has it that Trump, if reelected, plans to pardon those who battled Capitol police, killing one and injuring scores more, threatened his then-VP with hanging, and tried to get my vote thrown out. Somehow the prospect of that pardon does not make me feel safe. It leaves me fearing for our democracy and for the rule of law.
Given the rise in political violence, not only around the country but close to home, these concerns are not idle ones. Threats of violence have forced the closure of my party's local headquarters.
Trump's choice of a running mate has only served to heighten my concerns. Vice presidential-hopeful JD Vance has come right out and said that, if faced with future election results Trump doesn't like, he will feel free to do what Mike Pence wouldn't do — hold up the certification of those results. In other words, I can't be sure my vote will be counted as it was in the last election.
The prospect of future disenfranchisement would be bad enough if only my vote was at risk of being tossed out. However, the danger doesn't end there. Though I never became a mom, my niece did. In due course, her three children will be old enough to cast their first ballots. When that day comes, will their votes be counted, or will the losing presidential candidate encourage a mob to have their votes thrown out? Will whoever happens to be vice president at the time allow the certification of the election results to proceed, or will he cop an excuse for holding up that certification? The decision you make in this election could very well determine the answers to those questions.
Should your party's chosen candidate win in November, congratulations. I hope I'm wrong in my belief that he poses a threat to our democracy, because this is an argument I would very much like to lose. After all, Donald Trump has sworn, if elected, to go after his political enemies. I have to assume that includes anyone who has criticized him. My fate lies in your hands.
One thing is for certain. One political party alone can't save our democracy. If our democracy is to survive on the long run, we Democrats need your help. Somehow, both our parties have got to find some common ground on this, regardless of the outcome of the election.
Sincerely yours,
A concerned Democrat
Cynthia Coan is a 60-something childless dog-lady and librarian-turned-book indexer. More of her writings on democracy and political topics can be viewed at .
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