Dear Republican voter

My suggestion for how a Democratic campaign may persuade a Republican voter. A letter would go something like this.

Dear Republican voter,

As a life-long Democrat, we disagree on most issues in government. Since Ronald Reagan, I have opposed likely every Republican position taken anywhere at anytime. However, I never disputed a Republican voter’s love of country or commitment to our constitution’s call to “form a more perfect union.” We just disagree on how to get there.

I do believe we agree government must be transparent, accountable, and a responsible caretaker of public investments. Which is why I am writing today. Republicans vote for Republicans as Democrats vote for Democrats—because we trust each party broadly reflects our values. Elections were contests, but both sides shared these common values so our democracy thrived even as an electorate changed. These core values of transparency, accountability and responsibility are threatened under the Trump Administration. Values you rightly believed President Trump would honor, precisely because he was the Republican candidate for President.

Today, President Trump deploys a mysterious group of Silicon Valley DOGE engineers across government and into sensitive databases at Social Security and the IRS with no public disclosure of what is being done. Federal employees who provide essential services to seniors and veterans are drastically cut. Important research on Alzheimer’s and Diabetes is pulled. Rangers are removed from our parks. Even weather forecasters tasked to predict hurricanes are out the door. President Trump cites corruption for cuts, but fails to produce a single fraudulent check. He claims to fight DEI, never saying how we hire federal workers was set long before anything called DEI even existed.

Meanwhile, the government infrastructure we, as a country, built since World War II is being purposefully stripped away. The goodwill across the globe we all benefited from since then is being squandered. Republicans and Democrats together built an America through the Cold War that was the envy of the world: a leader in technology, an arsenal of democracy to end the Soviet threat, and an economic powerhouse never seen in modern times. Where is this all today? Now President Trump tears down research facilities, breaks our own trade agreements with ever-shifting tariffs and openly questions defense treaties by saying we may not help allies under attack.

President Trump even refuses to bring back a deported Maryland father the government actually admitted, in open court, was deported in error! Any decent adult from either party would act quickly to correct such terrible mistake, to get him out of that dangerous El Salvadorian prison and back to his family. Instead, DOGE engineers are hacking databases to remove individuals’ status to live and study here with only a flip of a switch, simply to deport more innocent people. DOGE personnel even use the Social Security database to declare people dead to torment them. These are not values found in either party’s history.

Transparency. Accountability. Responsibility. We are purposefully kept from knowing what is truly happening to our government with DOGE. No one is being held to account for what is being done in our name to our government and our nation’s reputation. Our substantial national infrastructure that provides essential services no private sector would never take on is being squandered. All while there are no receipts for any corruption or taxpayer savings to-date—only propaganda. Is this a more perfect Union?

As Ronald Reagan would say, “Trust, but verify.” Given all you have seen, is this really your Republican Party anymore? Or has President Trump taken it, along with most GOP elected officials, to a place you would never want to be?

This election, I ask you to vote for the Democratic Party. Not because we have better policy proposals, but to stop our country’s bleeding. Given the choices on the ballot, the Democratic Party is the party that best reflects your values this election, because President Trump has deceitfully removed them from your treasured party, without your knowledge or consent.

Choose a path to end the chaos in government and preserve what we have left standing. Send a message to the Republican Party up and down the ballot that everything has gone too far. Once our country is stable, we all can resume arguing over what we have never agreed on, while, together, we restore what was taken from the United States of America.

Sincerely,

A Democrat

You may find my characterization of a Republican voter too generous, but this is no time for any “I told you so” or “You should have known better.” I do believe few, if any, Republican Trump voters had any idea of how much damage Trump would do so quickly and that is what to press on. Is this your party?

Also, if you believe conservative voters are more motivated by fear than aspiration, well, mysterious DOGE agents from California poking through your files is pretty scary. And focusing on not knowing what is happening is like not showing the monster until the 3rd act. What it could be is always orders of magnatude worse than what winds up onscreen.

Overall, this is no time to make people feel stupid. History will take care of that, as much as the average American remembers any history. We need to connect on any principals we share and give them a path to follow the next two elections Trump voters are willing to take.