After almost 30 years of being an active member of the York Township Republican Committeemen’s Organization, Chris Ladd left the party because of the GOP’s decision to back Donald Trump as the president of the United States.
Ladd handed in a letter of resignation to the chairman of the York Township Committee describing his history with the party, and sharp criticism about the direction the party is heading.
“Almost thirty years ago as a teenager in Texas, I attended my first county Republican convention. As a college student I met a young Rick Perry, fresh from his conversion to the GOP, as he was launching his first campaign for statewide office. Through Associated Republicans of Texas I contributed and volunteered for business-friendly Republican state and local candidates,” Ladd wrote.
“Despite the bold rhetoric, we all know Trump will lose. Why throw away a great personal investment over one bad nominee? Trump is not merely a poor candidate, but an indictment of our character. Preserving a party is not a morally defensible goal if that party has lost its legitimacy,” he continued.
“Fast-forward to our present leadership and the nature of our dilemma is clear. I watched Paul Ryan speak at Donald Trump’s convention the way a young child watches his father march off to prison,” he wrote. “Thousands of Republican figures that loathe Donald Trump, understand the danger he represents, and privately hope he loses, are publicly declaring their support for him. In Illinois our local and state GOP organizations, faced with a choice, have decided on complicity.”
“Evasion and cowardice has prevailed over conscience. We are now, and shall indefinitely remain, the Party of Donald Trump,” he continued. “I will not contribute my name, my work, or my character to an utterly indefensible cause. No sensible adult demands moral purity from a political party, but conscience is meaningless without constraints.”
“A party willing to lend its collective capital to Donald Trump has entered a compromise beyond any credible threshold of legitimacy. There is no redemption in being one of the ‘good Nazis,’” he concluded.
And for good measure, Ladd also put a YouTube video of Texas native Willie Nelson singing, “The Party’s Over.”