How Republicans can move past Trump’s politics of personal ambition

The Founding Fathers’ favorite Roman was a man named Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was held in such high regard they named a social society and an Ohio city after him and referenced him in statues and paintings — not just for what he did, but also for what he didn’t do. He put the republic ahead of personal ambition.

America is now enduring our own anti-Cincinnatus.

Donald Trump believes America’s elections are “rigged.” He wants voters to trust that the volume of his presence will overwhelm our enemies and lavish all Americans — except those he doesn’t like — with high-paying jobs, safety from terrorism and renewed global stature. It’s a sales pitch that primarily props up Trump’s fragile ego, with collateral damage of undermining voters’ trust in the health of our democracy. It’s a poisonous cocktail, for sure.  

{mosads}The story of Cincinnatus remains relevant today, because the tropes of his legacy still manifest in modern American politics– #NotMeUs, for example.

The legend dates back to 5th Century Rome when Cincinnatus, a humble farmer, was summoned to leave his cattle and plow and nominated to lead Rome into battle. Under his authority, the Roman army ravaged its enemies, and after only 15 days of serving as dictator and general, Cincinnatus relinquished his post and returned to his farm. Years later, he again stood in as Rome’s dictator, only to again resign and retire to his farm.

Never before in history, at that scale, had an individual with such power voluntarily ceded it in service of the greater good.

That is, until George Washington voluntarily served only two terms as the United States’s first president. Washington, like Cincinnatus, put the republic ahead of personal ambition and created a precedent for our promising young democracy that didn’t previously exist. In fact, English poet Lord Byron praised Washington as “the Cincinnatus of the West.”

If these parables offer models of civic virtue, Trump’s candidacy is the antithesis. 

But Trump’s candidacy didn’t materialize out of thin air. Under President Obama, the Republican Party has transformed — Trump is an accelerant.

It’s a change that can be traced back to a January 2009 meeting in a D.C. steakhouse between Newt Gingrich, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders who decided the best path forward was to deny the new president any victories. On that day, the Republicans codified “scorched earth” as their party’s guiding principle. In 2010, McConnell infamously admitted that his goal was to make Obama a “one-term president.”

The result: Republicans refused to collaborate with Democrats and fed the sinister, paranoid suspicions of their right-wing base out of fear of rebellion. The Republican establishment never wanted Trump, but they also didn’t want to disenfranchise his supporters. Admittedly, that’s a sticky wicket — they opted for the politically craven.

From Republican leaders’ silence, Frankenstein was born. Trump is a mutated reality show host turned candidate that has been enabled through years of coded, hyperbolic and sensationalized language weaponized by the GOP for political gain.

Now the GOP establishment and down-ticket candidates are attached to him like an anvil in the ocean.

The lore of Cincinnatus and Washington has stood the test of time because each generation must be reminded that our democracy cannot be taken for granted, from the casual observer to engaged voters to our elected leaders.

But our leaders have an exceptional responsibility.

Leadership is a balance. America’s leaders must represent the needs and demands of their constituents, but they also have a moral obligation to act in our national interest — even if it means losing an election.

If the past few days are any indication, Republican leaders have not yet reconciled their party’s current state of crisis. Yes, some have defected from Trump, but most cases can be attributed to self-preservation rather than moral clarity.

American voters also have an obligation: defeat Trump and put the health of our democracy ahead of partisanship.

Trump’s rancid campaign has taken its toll on the American psyche in ways we know and ways we don’t. But his latest claim of rigged elections threatens the peaceful electoral process and transition of power at the core of the American idea. It goes beyond petty insults and philosophical differences.

After this election, Republicans have the opportunity to draw on the inspiration of Gen. Cincinnatus and George Washington: to wander back toward civility and put the national interest of personal ambition.

Will they find their way? Only time will tell.

Josh Cohen is a Democratic strategist and partner of The Pastorum Group.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.