Michael Brodkorb, the former vice chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, finds himself part of an unexpected but growing wave that could influence the outcome of November’s election: lifelong Republicans who have broken with Donald Trump to support Vice President Kamala Harris.
The movement is unprecedented in American presidential politics. It now includes hundreds of staffers of former Republican presidents and their candidates, retired senior military officials, White House counsel from the Ronald Reagan administration, and many others.
I knew Brodkorb for many years. He was a hard-core party man who delighted in finding dirt on the opposition, including an early blog called “Minnesota Democrats Exposed.”
But he and others in this breakaway group no longer recognize their party under Trump — a party without principles, with no history, and built entirely around a cult of personality.
These are not people who have abandoned their conservative principles. Certainly not former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson, who said in an opinion article last month that “the Republican Party will continue its obedience to Trump and destroy our democracy.” Nor Mesa, Arizona Mayor John Giles, who is co-chairman of Republicans for Harris. Nor Jim McCain, the son of the late Arizona Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. Nor former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and a vocal critic of Trump, who announced Wednesday that she would vote for Harris. Cheney, who criticized the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and voted to impeach him, causing her to lose her seat, said simply not voting for Trump was not enough.
“It’s very important for people to recognize — not only have I said that Trump poses some kind of threat that should prevent people from voting for him, but I also believe that we don’t have the luxury of writing in candidates, particularly in swing states,” Cheney said during an event at Duke University.
Her father, who served two terms under President George W. Bush, said Friday that he also plans to vote for Harris.
“In our country’s 248-year history, no individual has posed a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” former Vice President Cheney said in a statement. “He tried to steal the last election, using lies and violence to keep himself in power after voters rejected him. He can never be given power again.”
He said, “As citizens, we all have a duty to put country above party lines to protect our Constitution. That’s why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
These “normal” Republicans, as they often call themselves, have a tough task ahead of them. To succeed, they must create a framework that allows Republicans to adhere to their conservative beliefs, yet allows them to act decisively to prevent the threat of a second Trump term.
The key is not to force them to move to the left. They don’t want to abandon lifelong GOP principles, including a belief in small government, free trade and a strong defense. Nor will that happen by Harris moving to the right. Doing so would risk too much to their progressive base.
Instead, it will take a deft redefinition of what’s at stake in this election and the role of the GOP. It will center on a simple message: country before party, as well as a recognition that the old Republican Party is over and that, in Giles’ words, “we have no responsibility for what’s left behind.”
It would be a temporary ceasefire, but it could bring extraordinary benefits to the country, and ultimately a new Republican Party free from Trump’s decade-long toxic occupation.
The spirit of compromise required to vote for the opposition’s candidate could become the cornerstone for a new, more principled, and ultimately more successful Republican Party. By aligning with Harris, these Republicans demonstrate a level of discipline and maturity that will bode well for the rebuilding of their party.
Such an approach could have promoted the strong border policy crafted by a bipartisan group of senators and maliciously thwarted by Trump. It could have reduced Democratic spending without resorting to gridlock. It could have shifted attention away from culture war nonsense to the difficult but gratifying work of building a strong economy.
A CBS poll in August showed that 9% of likely voters who supported Trump are at least willing to consider voting for Harris. Capitalizing on that discontent, Republican Voters Against Trump launched an $11.5 million ad campaign in key battleground states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The ads show former Trump voters calmly talking about why they are voting for Harris.
One of those voters, Lars Svaho, 66, calls himself a strong fiscal conservative. In a YouTube video explaining his selection, he says Trump “proved to be a disappointment. A clown.” Deporting 10 to 12 million illegal immigrants “really scares me. That’s not what we want in the Republican Party.”
This kind of consistent persuasion, which meets voters where they are, can be remarkably effective. It was exactly this kind of campaign that made Minnesota the first state to defeat a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2012. Similar bans had already passed in every one of the 30 states where they had been introduced.
Harris is wisely capitalizing on this new movement and making it easier for these disaffected Republicans to join her. She is openly wooing the disaffected, offering sign-ups to “reach out to other Republicans, independents and Trump-skeptical voters” to support her campaign. Republicans, including Giles, were given key speaking roles at last month’s Democratic National Convention. Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack with Cheney and was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump, was surprised by the warm and rousing reception he received from Democratic delegates.
Harris has also begun offering sensible, middle-of-the-road policies, such as her proposal on small business startups, which gives the lie to Trump’s attempts to categorize her as “Comrade Kamala.” She has promised to sign the bipartisan border bill, showing that compromise is not a dirty word.
We have stayed together as a nation for so long because the ties that bind Americans together are greater than those that divide us: the rule of law, the enduring principles in the Constitution, freedom that does not abdicate responsibility, and the recognition that the world still looks to this country as a leader.
If there is a new silent majority today, it is Republicans who want to be free of Trump’s hopeless vision that has brought America to the brink of ruin but has done nothing.
Republicans who can look beyond tribal divisions and cross party lines to vote for Harris could also deliver something else this country desperately needs: a decisive victory that demolishes Trump’s option to challenge the election results.
Giles is actively campaigning for Harris. Brodkorb says he’s been talking with Republicans, Zooming and making lists. “I’m putting my door-knocking shoes back on for the first time in a long time,” he told me.
Giles and Brodkorb are right. Staying home is not enough. Voting for Harris is not enough. Republicans who want to defeat Trump and reclaim their party will have to reach out to others and form separate groups until MAGA fades into oblivion.
Patricia Lopez is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, covering the Midwest. She was previously an editorial writer for the Star Tribune.
Disclaimer: These are the personal views of the author
