Tucson Opinion: A post-2020 note to fellow Republicans in Southern Arizona

It is a time of reflection for Republicans in Southern Arizona. Republican candidates fought hard, but nearly everyone with an “R” after their name was voted down, from the very top of the ballot to key seats down the ticket. We’ve just been sent a resounding message from voters, including from members of our own party.

The message? We cannot continue our recent approach and expect to win. I believe we must return to our conservative roots — less government, strong national security, supporting electable conservatives, and expanding the Republican base by engaging broader constituencies.

With these themes, Ronald Reagan inspired me and many others to want to serve. His leadership pulled us out of our post-Vietnam malaise, and he encouraged us to imagine America as a “shining city on a hill”. He was right about that vision and so many others.

“Governments don’t produce economic growth, people do.” Reagan believed that less government, fewer regulations, and lower taxes are the key to “more prosperity for all.”

We must build on our recent efforts to update trade agreements, re-shore jobs to America, promote new job creation in mining, manufacturing and aerospace and to compete with China for new technology growth areas such as 5G and artificial intelligence.

The president who brought down the Soviet empire believed it was “senseless, ill-founded and dangerous for America to withdraw from its role as superpower and leader of the free world.”

He strengthened our defense industry (like Raytheon, our largest defense employer), our military (and our bases, like Davis-Monthan and Fort Huachuca) and our alliances — he knew America’s global network of alliances is envied by our enemies and our leadership is enhanced, not hampered by them. Reagan would recognize in China a dangerous challenge and reinvest in our alliances to defend against this new systemic threat.

The “Great Communicator” called science “an indispensable investment in America’s future”, supporting investment in science and technology. He tasked NASA to create the International Space Station and called on our nation’s scientists to create the U.S. missile defense system, then called Star Wars. There is more we must do in funding, but he would agree with his former White House aide, Ambassador John Huntsman Jr.: “The minute that the Republican Party becomes the anti-science party, we have a huge problem.” The University of Arizona, our largest science employer, deserves our support.

“The Republican Party ... is a broad party. There is room in our tent for many views; indeed, the divergence of views is one of our strengths.” Here, the GOP must engage with our Latino community, where we share conservative pro-family and pro-legal immigration values. This was also a key conclusion of the Republican Party’s “autopsy report” following Mitt Romney’s defeat in 2012 — and it is no less relevant today.

Reagan described our situation today exactly — a narrow party of extremes “does not win elections. This kind of party soon disappears in a blaze of glorious defeat.”

Finally, recall Reagan’s pronouncement that “The person who agrees with you 80% of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20% traitor.”

We must return to civil engagement with each other and our challengers, and remember that our values can compete on their own merits. If the GOP is to remain relevant in Southern Arizona, we must focus on supporting electable conservatives who can persuade others to rejoin and follow us.

Reagan provides wisdom for us but we have to choose. It’s either the politics of extremism, which will lead us to “glorious defeat” and irrelevancy, or we can choose to let our values and ideas win through. As Reagan said “While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.” Let’s get back to winning it.