I am a Democrat who misses the Republican Party.  I want the party of rugged individuals and limited government back.  This party no longer exists.  Republicans have only themselves to blame.

In the 1990s, the Republican Party started rewarding ideological purity.  Then-Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich used his power to force conservative lawmakers to stop compromising with Democrats.  He removed moderate Republicans from their committee posts and he funded insurgent extremists who challenged centrists for reelection. Gingrich made it clear; if you compromise, we will take away your power, your money, and your voters.  You will lose.

Every politician wants to win reelection.  Otherwise, you lose your job.  In Newt Gingrich’s Republican Party, purity helped you keep your job.  Compromise became weakness.  Moderate lawmakers moved to the far right to keep their seats while those who did not, lost to pure conservative newcomers. The Republican Party stopped rewarding lawmaking and started encouraging political extremism.

The evidence for the Republican Party’s rightward shift is overwhelming.  First, look at the Republican Party’s history.  In 2010, the Tea Party movement elected dozens of hard right, uncompromising lawmakers to Congress.  In 2011, they held the nation’s credit hostage to a series of ridiculous demands, threatening economic catastrophe to satisfy a few extreme positions.  This is like refusing to pay down your mortgage until the bank gives you a bigger house. Reasonable political parties do not behave like this.

Second, look at who’s running for President.  You can pick Donald Trump, who has no political experience, lies every five minutes, encourages violence at his rallies, and routinely insults Muslims, Latino and Latina immigrants, the disabled, women, Jews, and veterans.  Or, you can choose Ted Cruz, who every senator hates and whose only accomplishment is shutting down the government for a month.

Political parties market themselves to voters through a brand name, just like any other product.  You vote for Republicans or Democrats based on the party’s reputation.  Just like the marketing executive who figures out how to distinguish Coca Cola from Pepsi, a party’s “brand name” starts at the top.

The Republican Party is responsible for Donald Trump.  When the party rewards radical and insurgent lawmakers, Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump benefit.  If the Republican Party stood for moderate conservatism, voters would choose someone else. But Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are on track to win the nomination.

A few weeks ago, Republican governor Bobby Jindal blamed the Democratic Party for Donald Trump’s success.  I wish my party could create Donald Trump just to demolish him in the general election. If the Republican Party nominates Donald Trump, at least a third of Republicans will not vote for him.  Minority voters will come out in droves to oppose him.  Vulnerable Republican senators, Congressmen and women, governors, and state lawmakers will lose to Democrats.  The party will endure catastrophic losses on every level.

I do not want the Republican Party to implode.  Neither party, Democratic or Republican can, govern the country without the other.  When both parties work with each other, the country prospers.  Bipartisan cooperation created Social Security, the Civil Rights Act, the Violence Against Women Act, and countless other important laws.

We need two parties who work together.  When the Republican Party chooses ideological purity over progress, you get Donald Trump.  I want the party of Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, and Teddy Roosevelt instead.

So this is to the Republican Party: Donald Trump is your problem.  Fix your brand. Come back to the center. America misses you.