President without a party

National Republican Party leaders are facing a disturbing and seemingly inevitable fact. Despite their best efforts, recent GOP primary contests across America have made one thing very clear – Donald Trump is likely to be their nominee for president. Democrats are equally troubled and for some of the same reasons: Trump’s politics are anything from clear and his seeming imperviousness to the rules around which we are accustomed to waging our political battles makes life very uncertain for everyone.

This column is not in support of Trump. When staring at inevitability it’s better to find a silver lining and work to polish it than to curse the darkness. What is that silver lining? The rise of Trump may offer the country the first good chance it has had in many decades of returning the American Republic to its constitutional roots of a limited presidency within a deliberative democracy.

{mosads}President George Washington’s parting words to his countrymen were a warning against the rise of political parties.  Almost to a person, our Founders distrusted the spirit of party.  Yet almost from the outset we have had a two-party political system with both becoming more ideologically pure over the last few decades. The result has been what our founder’s feared: loss of deliberation, party interest promoted above the common good, deep divisions within the American people, and perversions of the lines of authority in the Constitution.

Trump’s rise offers some possibility that we can reset our understanding of the place of the presidency and of parties within our system of government. Here’s how.

First, Republicans need not actively embrace Trump but should not undermine his candidacy either. By earning their nomination, all he really earns is the right to be listed on their line on the ballot in November. The idea of a president as “standard bearer” for a party is a long American tradition, but is not essential to our democracy.  Conservatives need to make it very clear that Trump is not one of them and work to insure his views do not become associated with conservatism in the public mind. Conservatives also need to understand that if Trump loses, they lose not only the White House for the third time in a row, but also the Supreme Court and that sober reality should temper their attacks.

Democrats should run a vigorous campaign against Trump, just as they would any other year. They should be very careful not to underestimate him. Ronald Reagan, we might remember, was viewed as outside the mainstream in 1980 and was the candidate Democrats thought they could most easily beat. He went on to win twice in historic landslides.

The difference really happens when, and if, “Mr. Trump” is inaugurated as “Mr. President.” Republicans in Congress need to understand that he won their nomination because he won the votes of a third or so of their electorate, not because he shares their values or policy goals. And, he will have won against a deeply flawed Democrat. They should, therefore, treat him as a constitutional president without a party. For too long congressional Republicans and Democrats alike have carried water for presidents of their party, doing their bidding and bending the rules to support them. This undermines the foundations of our system, which are found in actual deliberation within and between co-equal branches of government.

Republicans in Congress should challenge President Trump whenever they disagree with his ideas. They should challenge him whenever he goes outside the lines of presidential authority. They should defend their branch of government and the common good with the dedication with which they have defended their party.  Democrats should do the same and link arms with Republicans to resist any power grabs beyond the limits imposed by the Constitution and statutory law.  Both parties should let his actions and proposals stand or fall on their own merits.

In other words, though Trump may well garner the Republican nomination for president, both parties should treat him as the Founders would have wanted all presidents treated: with a respect demanded by the office, but whose ideas and actions are subject to open and honest deliberation from a Congress bent on defending its prerogatives and serving the common good of the nation. Trump should be a president without a party, as our Founders intended.

Gregg is director of the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville and author of The Presidential Republic: Executive Representation and Deliberative Democracy.