By Dallas Emerson, SARC Deputy Communications Director

SARC has an opportunity to help our community!

One of the issues that brings us most together is the problem of homelessness in our city. This week, I’m sure those without homes will be more present on our minds than usual.
We are about to get hit with an incredible cold front in the coming week, with temperatures falling well below freezing soon. This means hundreds, or thousands, of people will be exposed to dangerous elements.

While we could use this as a moment to point to the failed policies of the City government, there is something much more productive we can do.
There is something we can do to help.
Front Steps, a prominent homeless shelter in Austin, has launched a blanket drive, and is requesting people purchase one of three specific blankets from Amazon and Kohl’s—you can find their list on this page.
Our club has already participated in a park cleanup as a part of our effort to improve the city. This is an opportunity for us to help our city confront one of its most pressing concerns.
As Conservatives, we champion the ability of free and independent people to take care of their communities without government direction.
As Republicans, we have often bemoaned the human cost of the housing situation in our city.
We shouldn’t pitch in to score political points. We should do it because it is right.

As we’ve moved into 2021, community outreach has been one of our foremost goals, and this is a moment where our community needs our outreach.
I encourage all of you—if it is within your means—to please purchase a blanket for Front Steps today. If you are a member of a church or other community group, please take a moment to encourage them to donate as well.
It just may save a life.

By Dallas Emerson, SARC Deputy Communications Director

The GOP is Divided — and That’s Good — let’s explore…

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in conservative conversation.
“Let’s start a new party. A party for trueconservatives.”

We’ve all heard some version of that.
The Republican Party is publicly fracturing. As President Trump leaves office, some of his own party are happy to see him go; others see this as the first step in the fall of the Republic.
I confess, I was never fully on board with the President. I opposed him in the primaries. I refused to vote for him in 2016, considering myself something of a Never-Trumper, but eventually decided to vote for him in 2020, fearing the madness of the Left. I have been on both sides of the Trump debate.
I’m here to tell you that if you love Trump or hate Trump, we have to share the party with those we disagree with, and that’s a good thing.

How can I say that? A divided party loses elections. A divided party struggles with messaging. A divided party spends too much energy fighting itself to convert persuadable voters.
Yes, but a party with intellectual diversity has the opportunity to refine ideas. Divisions in the party allow different messages to be brought to different populations and regions. Internal arguments can strengthen the ability to communicate.
True, the Republican Party is, at the moment weaker, for its division between Pro-Trump (the majority) and Anti-Trump (the decided minority).
It may shock you to know that both sides consider the others to have abandoned “true conservatism.” As though there was one version of Conservatism. There have always been differences in our movement—Trump just made them intensely personal.
Remember, the “anti-Trump” wing of the party encompasses moderates like Romney and hardcore Tea Partiers like Sen. Ben Sasse. The Pro-Trump wing has former Democratic moderates like Rep. Van Drew and unquestionable conservatives like Governor DeSantis.

In many ways “pro” and “anti” Trump are better understood as style, rather than policy, differences.

I encourage each and every one of you to consider that the large majority of people you disagree with on the subject of the President came to their opinion in good faith, following their understanding of the facts, and their own upbringing. Try to bring others to understand your ideas all you like; tell them why you think they’re wrong, but please remember we on the Right have a lot more in common than it feels like at the moment.
And we’ve never exactly been a monolithic movement.
Soon, however, the debate within the GOP will move beyond Trump. It has to.
He won’t be President, and Biden, with backed by narrow majorities in the House and Senate will be striving to accomplish everything he can before his political capital is entirely spent.

As a party, we are not going to suddenly come together in unity. Instead, we will return to some version our older arguments: establishment vs. grassroots, nationalist vs. libertarian, intervention vs. isolation. Trumpism is difficult to define, again maybe being a style rather than ideology, but it will be added to our numerous internal disputes.
We’ve had these debates for generations and we’re better for it.
In its founding days, the Republican party argued about how best to combat slavery.
In the Cold War, it was Republicans who sought to strike the appropriate balance of assertiveness and restraint.

The Left has a single answer to all questions that face our society: government. Lots and lots of government intervention.

By remaining the party of argument, the GOP can remain the party of ideas.
So, when you run into another insufferable Never Trumper, and when you encounter another die-hard Trumpist, remember, we’re not a party that revolves around a single man, but around a complex set of ideas.

We need each other, we can’t win without each other, and we’re better off arguing with one another than just sitting around talking about how much we all agree.

By Dallas Emerson

Americans aren’t used to complex election results, and the 2020 election was complex. Despite winning the Presidency by a relatively comfortable margin, the Democrats suffered defeats across the country in the House, and failed to win the Senate outright as had been predicted. Republicans held their own in state legislature elections, and continue to hold the governorships of most states. 

It’s little wonder that both parties seem to be cracking up afterwards. Staring down the prospect of divided government and trying to figure out what went wrong for their respective defeats, both parties’ internal struggles are becoming increasingly public. 

Something else that has become more obvious—the Republican party is changing. Donald Trump performed better with every demographic…but white men. That’s right, after 4 long years of accusations of “white supremacy,” African Americans, Latinos, and Asians were all more likely to vote for Trump than in 2016.  

This suggests a few things about the American populace.  

First and foremost, doubling down on identity politics helped the Democrats mobilize middle class white voters—particularly those in the suburbs—while it did nothing for them among minority voters.  

Texas is a perfect example of this dynamic. Joe Biden won the longstanding Republican stronghold of Williamson County, something no Democrat has done since Jimmy Carter. Meanwhile, Donald Trump won Zapata County—a reliably Democratic county, which is largely Hispanic.  

Ironically, with these large changes throughout the state, the 2020 results were almost identical to those of 2016. In both cases, Donald Trump received just over 52% of the vote.  

Similar changes could be seen in Florida, where Republicans flipped two House seats in Miami—a decidedly diverse city.  

The next thing these odd changes suggest is that we truly don’t know what causes voters to turn out.  

Many pundits on the Right have said that Donald Trump’s “populism” has transformed the Republican party into a multi-ethnic, working-class party. But that’s conjecture at best.  

Donald Trump’s Presidency, despite the tweeting and the maniacal press coverage, was essentially identical to that of a normal Republican. He cut taxes, raised military spending, and appointed conservative judges. The largest change from former Republican presidents was in foreign policy; he started no new wars. Even then, his greatest foreign policy successes—the peace deals rapidly spreading throughout the Middle East—are a reflection of Republican ideals. By providing consistent, even strident, support for Israel and deploying unbridled military power in the face of multiple threats, the President created an environment in which peace could be achieved for the first time since Israel’s inception.  

So the Republican Party can feel confident moving forward that it doesn’t need to undergo radical change to win over more voters. Its policies, under an exceedingly controversial leader, appeal to a more diverse group of voters than any since 1960.  

The true difference between Trump and previous Republicans is that Trump tried to reach out to minority voters. And it may be as simple as that.  

Republicans, armed with this knowledge should feel good about the future. Even though 2020 was a defeat, there were many small victories for Republicans to find throughout the country.  

The face of the Republican Party is changing, but its principles shouldn’t.