GUEST OPINION
Guest view: GOP's moment of choice
Of course, it’s much harder to see clearly when you’re living through history in real time.
I
was reminded of this while reading a newspaper column by Andrew McKean,
the former editor of Outdoor Life who lives in Glasgow. McKean very
capably highlighted the choice voters face in the Republican primary for
Montana governor, and he did so through the lens of public lands.
Our
one-term Congressman, Greg Gianforte, has a fundamental instinct to
privatize our lands, our waters and our wildlife, and has chosen as his
running mate a law professor who has written that private landowners
should be allowed to exclude the public from what are now public-access
waterways.
Gianforte’s
main primary opponent is Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, who has
drafted a plan not only to maintain public access but also to vastly
improve that access for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.
This
issue – public access to public lands – provides a large window into
how these two candidates think about the world. It’s a fundamental
difference, and reveals much about how they weigh the good of the many
against the profit of the few.
And
just as this one small issue reveals much about the contrast between
these two candidates, the divide between Gianforte and Fox exposes a
critical split within today’s Republican Party. Yes, this election is
about public land access, and it is about the public good versus private
power, but it also is about the heart and soul of America’s GOP.
The
Republican Party was born as the party of innovation and leadership. It
has been the party of emancipation, public education for all, the
National Park Service and public lands, transcontinental railroads, and
interstate highways. It has been the party of Abraham Lincoln and
Theodore Roosevelt, and the party of people who believe in both
individual liberty and civil service.
It has not been the party of locking out the public interest for the profit of a private interest.
Civil
service and personal ambition are both tremendous motivators, but they
function best when balanced to protect the rights of everyone.
This
election is one in which much doubt will be removed regarding the
future of our party, and in which there will be no room for the
leadership examples of both Theodore Roosevelt and Mitch McConnell.
Roosevelt warned politicians “not to represent any special class and
promote merely that class's selfish interests, but to represent all true
and honest men of all sections and all classes.” It was good advice
then, and it’s good advice now.
Republicans
traditionally have been idealists, in that they believe in both the
individual and in principles greater than the individual. But now, some
in the party embrace the blame-politics of scapegoating and scoring
points against political “enemies,” rather than working with others to
do the good work of public service.
There’s no escaping that we’re living right at a turning point in American history.
This
Republican primary is not just about public lands, or about the
political philosophies of these two Montana candidates. It is about
deciding who the party leaders should be and, by extension, what the
character of the Republican Party will be for years to come. In the
recurring history of primary elections, we have rarely had such an
opportunity to choose our own future. We as voters should be prepared to
meet that moment.
Bob Brown is a former Montana Secretary of State and state Senate president.
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