I attended my first Dallas Cowboys game on Dec. 16, 1979. I was 8 years old, and I was absolutely mesmerized by the pomp and ceremony of the festivities. The smell of popcorn and beer permeated the blustery old Texas Stadium on a day when the Cowboys needed to defeat the hated Washington Redskins to make it into the playoffs. With characteristic fourth-quarter heroics, Roger “The Dodger” Staubach saved the day and won the game in the final seconds.
I was hooked. No matter what happened after that day with the other professional sports clubs in Dallas, I was forever a fan of the silver and blue. It didn’t matter who wore that storied white jersey — Roger, Danny, Troy, Tony or Dak — it’s in my DNA to root for that guy and that team.
A few years later, I found that I felt the same way about a man I saw on TV who spoke beautifully about our country as a “shining city on the hill.” With a glint in his eye, and a tempered strength in his voice, he talked about how America was the greatest country in human history. He was optimistic, kind, gracious, gentlemanly and welcoming of those who didn’t always agree with him. I thought of him as a cross between Superman and a nice grandfather. Growing up, my folks taught me that character counts and whether you agreed with his politics or not, Ronald Reagan had character.
Most importantly, Reagan spoke about what he believed in and where he wanted to lead our country. He said that we needed an economy free of restraints like tariffs or trade barriers that could burden our citizens or limit our ability to grow. He talked about smaller government that ignored what people did in their bedrooms but was welcoming of immigrants who just wanted a better life for their families. And he spoke about the evils of authoritarians and dictators in places like the Soviet Union and North Korea.
Just as I fell in love with the Cowboys because of my early experiences with the team, it was because of these fundamentally conservative principles that I became a Republican. I even served the people of Texas as a Reagan conservative in the Texas Legislature from 2013 to 2019. Like my love for the silver and blue, I stood steadfast with the Republican Party.
Until I couldn’t.
Sometimes things change in such an inexorable way that we have no choice but to question what we believe in and what we stand for.
In the upcoming election for president of the United States, there are a number of well-known Republicans who, like me, have determined that the Republican Party that we served as Reagan conservatives so long ago is now a party that cheers solely for the color of the Republican jersey, or worse, supports a single person, rather than a slate of guiding principles.
That may work when it comes to the local professional football team, but when matters of national security, the economic security of our families and the very foundation of Western-style democracy are at stake, we simply cannot afford to ignore the fact that the current iteration of the Republican Party looks nothing like the team we cheered for in our youth, or even a decade ago.
Dick Cheney, vice president under President George W. Bush, is widely considered to be one of the most conservative Republican politicians of the modern era. He was reviled by the left and, during his time in office, was often referred to as the biggest threat to progressive politics in history. Here are his words regarding the upcoming election:
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”
Given the enormous changes we have witnessed within the modern Republican Party, the time has come for us to reevaluate and reconsider what we stand for and what we will support. Of course, conservatives will not agree with many of the policy prescriptions of the other side. But the choice in this election is not merely between conservative and liberal policies.
The choice is about who we are as a people, what we are willing to tolerate in fealty to our team colors and what kind of political system we want for our families, today and in the future.
After eight years of watching the Republican Party morph into something I no longer recognize, I will choose the candidate that most embodies the character and principles of a classic conservative like Ronald Reagan, and I will stand with proven conservative leaders like Dick Cheney when I cast my vote for president.
Jason Villalba is the CEO of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation and a former member of the Texas House.
Part of our opinion series The American Middle, this essay from a Republican leader says the party has moved away from centering values.
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