America needs pro-democracy conservatives to save the republic

Donald Trump went to Washington and left the place a mess. 

In the wake of coronavirus deaths, business failures, struggling families, heightened racial tension and an insurrectionist mob attacking Congress, American politics has divided into two camps: those who believe in democracy and those for whom democracy is optional. Today, Democrats make up the bulk of the pro-democracy caucus and anti-democratic forces primarily identify as Republicans. However, partisan labels don’t have to be destiny.

There are still pro-democracy conservatives, and America needs them to be constructive and not succumb to anti-Biden reflexes. Some of these conservatives left their party and aligned with President Biden in the 2020 election. But it is the pro-democracy conservatives who still call themselves Republicans who bear the biggest burden to save our republic. If they become an anti-Biden caucus, angling for short-term advantage in the 2022 midterms or the 2024 presidential election, the Republican Party — and perhaps the entire American political experiment — could be doomed. 

Trump’s attempts to overturn the popular and Electoral College votes in the 2020 election revealed how hot anti-democratic passions rage among many Republicans. Seventeen Republican-led states sued to invalidate the presidential election results, and even after the Capitol Building attack, 139 House members and eight U.S. senators voted to deny certification of the Electoral College vote.

They’re not an aberration. According to an NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist survey, 72 percent of Republicans don’t trust that “the results of the 2020 election are accurate,” and an Axios-Ipsos poll revealed 64 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s “recent behavior.”

The country needs pro-democracy Republicans to fight back against this tide and Democrats will need them to end Senate filibusters. Biden has offered an ambitious $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan that calls for aid to families and businesses to kickstart the economy while getting hundreds of millions of vaccine doses into the arms of Americans. Principled partisans can fight over price tags and particular elements, but all of us can agree we have to address those problems. Republicans should get in the game, not sit on the sidelines. 

There are other problems ripe for action, too. Climate change is barreling down on us, threatening coastlines, creating climate refugees and opening up new areas of international competition. Tough policies such as a carbon tax and industrial pollution standards must be on the docket, but American ingenuity and innovation can have a real impact, too. Currently, there are seven Republican senators in the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus who “acknowledge our climate is changing, human activity is contributing, and Congress must play a central role in developing strategies for mitigation and adaptation.” That’s a good place to start.

Last summer, the political and corporate establishment reacted in horror after a video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer was found. Washington can help change the way police engage with Black, Brown and poor citizens, if everyone can get past the slogans. The glaring disparity in police response to protesters, the presence of off-duty police in the Capitol insurrection and the hypocrisy of “Blue Lives Matter” Trumpers beating cops with American flags should lower the temperature of right-wing opponents to higher police scrutiny. Surely policymakers can prioritize mental health screenings for officers, design new rules of engagement, and reassign responsibility for mental health calls from police to social service responders. Maybe some conservatives will engage in qualified immunity reform and restraining police unions.

Lastly, Washington should rein in the powers of the presidency. Joe Biden is a patriot, but Democrats and Republicans must assume that an anti-democracy politician may win another election. What policies and disclosures should we enact to constrain such a leader? The Trump presidency exposed that the president has too few constraints and some legal and administrative rules need to be codified. Norms, customs and public shaming are not strong enough berms to confine what Ohio State University professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries calls an “out-of-control presidency” without allegiance to “principle, patriotism or party.”

Democrats won the last election and rightfully control the federal agenda. If Republicans don’t come to play ball, Biden should sign executive orders where he can and change Senate rules if he must. That might be the only course available, and that kind of strength may be what brings Republicans to the negotiating table. But the republic would be better off if pro-democracy forces on both sides built new rules of engagement that kept the hordes outside the gates. That process might yield a few half-loaves, but it also might save the entire bakery.

Jamal Simmons is a Democratic campaign strategist, CBS News analyst and hosts #ThisisFYI on Instagram and Facebook. Follow him on Twitter @JamalSimmons.