I spent most of my life as a Republican. As a teenager, I worked for the party by stuffing envelopes, ringing doorbells, and performing other mundane tasks of grassroots politics. On the morning of my 18th birthday, I made a special trip to the county seat to register as a Republican. Later, I spent seven years as a full-time staffer for Republican officials and organizations in Albany, New York, and Washington, DC. In the early 1990s, as I began to do more media commentary, I stopped active participation in party affairs, but I continued to vote for GOP candidates. Although I split my ticket from time to time, I voted for every Republican presidential nominee between 1976 and 2012. When Donald Trump clinched the nomination in 2016, however, I knew that the streak would end. Until the night of the election, I hoped that he would lose so that the party could close this sad, bizarre chapter. When he won, it was obvious that he would take the party with him. As he mounted the stage to claim victory, I took out my laptop and changed my registration to independent (or “no party preference” in California terminology).
Since that night, it has become evident that Trump represents something deeper and darker than a break with GOP traditions. He has broken our country’s laws, repudiated its principles, and sided with its adversaries. He is, in a word, un-American. I wrote this book to explain how he has hurt the United States, and alas, how he provided me with new material every day.
I am hardly the first to break GOP ranks, and I am grateful to those who prepared the way in books, articles, and tweets: Max Boot, Amanda Carpenter, Mona Charen, George Conway, Mindy Finn, David French, David Frum, Reed Galen, Michael Gerson, Jonah Goldberg, Jennifer Horn, Bill Kristol, Mike Madrid, Liz Mair, Evan McMullin, Mike Murphy, Ana Navarro, Tom Nichols, Jay Nordlinger, Jennifer Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Stuart Stevens, Charles Sykes, John Weaver, Pete Wehner, George Will, and Rick Wilson—among many others.
In writing, I have benefited from comments by my friends Bill Connelly, John Gardner, Lloyd Green, and Jeremy Shane. They bear no responsibility for my views, and of course, any mistakes are mine alone. This book would not have been possible without the loving forbearance of my wife, Lisa. I thank my daughter, Hannah, and my son, JP, for their patience as I sat mumbling and grumbling at my computer screen.