Inviting Republicans to the Party

by Christine Merser

Today’s Action Items:

• How about we refer to MAGA rather than Republicans? It’s not hard to do.

• Consider your language when speaking to your Republican friends and family.

• Thank them for being willing to vote.

• Welcome them at the doorway to a better America.

Lose the oranges. The clown faces. The piles of dog-doo emojis.

I was speaking calmly to a Trump voter (the new me… most of the time), a lifelong Republican, about how difficult this is for him, for all of them. “Imagine your party, which your identity is built on since the days around the dinner table with my parents, had been hijacked the way mine has been. Just saying, this is not easy. I know I can’t vote for him, but I am not going to be made to feel like S*^&t by all you Democrats for the mess we are in.”

Language matters.

We want to win in November.

There are Republicans—lifelong, who have lived long lives with their party as their middle name. Their political identity. Just like being a Democrat is mine. Seek to understand rather than be understood? So not easy for me, when I see it simply as good versus evil, but I’m trying.

How about we refer to MAGA rather than Republicans? Not hard to do.

How about we stop talking about them like this post on Threads does? This will not make them want to walk to the other side of the aisle. Here’s a visual. Imagine the two party sides in the Capitol’s House Chambers. We see them sitting during the State of the Union every year, clapping for their side. Imagine instead, one side was jeering the other, laughing and pointing as they fell toward failure. Would that make them want to join and unite?

How about we talk about where the country is going, and that we all hope the hijacked Republican Party can rebuild, because we all know that our country works best, our checks and balances have worked best, under a two-party system?

How about we thank them for being willing to vote—just this once—for something bigger than the differences that normally controlled the vote?

When Kamala rolled out Tim Walz last week in Philadelphia, twice the crowd started yelling, “Lock him up! Lock him up!” Both Harris and Walz told them to stop. We should remember how they are leading this team headed toward the finish line in November. With hope, joy, and solid policy.

Welcome them in the doorway toward a better America. They are giving up something to provide that for all of us by crossing party lines this fall.