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Brian Flick| Opinion contributor

I was a registered Republican until I pulled my first Democratic ballot on May 8, 2018.

Like many reading this, I grew up in suburban neighborhoods that were predominately white and middle class. I grew up listening to Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Rush Limbaugh remember Rushs bit during the Clinton years about "American Held Hostage?" I went to a Baptist church on Wednesday nights and Sundays, and I lived in a household where politics wasnt a dinner table discussion, nor was it something we seemed to ever talk about.

Many of you who identify as Republican or conservative in the wake of Jan. 6, the Trump presidency and the Dobbs decision have asked yourself the same question I began to ask myself in earnest about 15 years ago: Is this Republican Party really the party for me?

The answer has become a clear no for me.

On the economy, my former party has gone rogue.

I began my legal career in 2007 as a consumer bankruptcy attorney which I still am to this day working primarily with working-class and middle-class families. I spent the majority of my first four years in practice helping families across the socio-economic spectrum trying to save their homes from foreclosure, their cars from repossession and collection efforts from banks and corporations, especially payday lenders, who preyed upon these families. As the bailout was happening, I asked myself why the corporations were being bailed out, and families were losing everything.

On middle- and working-class families, my former party has given up.

I have been abhorred by the Republican Partys, particularly the Ohio GOPs, outright assault on middle- and working-class families. I witnessed this firsthand in the Ohio Legislature in 2010-2011 when I urged passage of a bill that would increase Ohios homestead exemption. After I testified in front of a House committee, I was able to watch floor debates; and, to my absolute horror, I listened as countless Republicans openly attacked Gov. John Kasich over Medicaid expansion and expressed disdain for the needs of our most economically vulnerable Ohioans.

And most recently on womens rights, my former party has rejected protections for personal rights.

I have always supported a womans right to choose, and there is no place in the party for a pro-choice Republican given the continued grip the religious right and lobbyists have on the party.

This horror has continued each and every time I have petitioned at the Statehouse, which has included two other memorable meetings: the time I heard an unnamed state senator refer to Ohioans as "you people" during a meeting with corporate lobbyists and two consumer groups about legislation over Ohios first data security bill, and a second time where I worked against a payday lending bill only to have the Republican representative repeatedly pause in his questioning as he was getting texts of questions to ask me from the lobbyist in the corner.

My only regret from May 8, 2018 was not making the decision to become a Democrat earlier.

The Republican Party has lost its way, and Im proud to be working with organizations across our state, like WelcomePAC (https://welcomepac.org/), that are committed to elevating candidates who can protect our state and our democracy from the GOPs radicalized positions.

It is my hope that sharing parts of my story inspires others to not only ask themselves the hard questions, but to also leave a party that now celebrates greed, corruption and oppression.

Brian Flick is Managing Partner and Cincinnati Office Director of Dann Law, with a practice that focuses on bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, appellate litigation, and other areas of consumer law.

More here:
Opinion: I left the Republican Party because it has lost its way - The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Tuesday said former President Trump brought heaps of fear into the GOP as lawmakers worried disloyalty to their party leader could knock them out of favor.

For some reason, somewhere, it all became about power, and it all became about fear. And Donald Trump brought heaps of fear into the Republican Party, Kinzinger said on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

For like a year or two, people thought maybe we could take down Donald Trump. When he kept surviving, this fear came through of like, we have to do everything he wants, because he is invulnerable, and he very well may be invulnerable, but there are a lot of people that, with that fear, sold out their soul because they didnt want to be kicked out of the tribe.

The Illinois congressman, one of just two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, said his party has gone crazy.

Kinzinger ran down the holier-than-thou folks in Congress who put their loyalty to Trump ahead of their partys practical values.

You know these people, the holier-than-thou folks that get elected to Congress that preach to you constantly about the Constitution, whats in it, what isnt in it, how this little nuance does abide by it or doesnt abide by it. We all believe in the Constitution, Kinzinger said.

Theyre the same people that have sold out their values because the Donald Trump said to do so. Theyre the same people that now consider conservatism to be that fealty to Donald Trump.

Earlier this year, Kinzingers fellow Republican on the Jan. 6 committee Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)said loyalty to Trump and loyalty to the Constitution were mutually exclusive and that the Republican party needs to choose one.

Kinzinger and Cheney have both come under fire from the former president and his supporters for breaking rank to criticize him.

Trump last year reveled in Kizingers announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2022.

Cheney recently lost her reelection bid to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman in Wyomings GOP primary, and said in her concession speech that she could easily have won her House seat again, but that she would have had to enable [Trumps] ongoing efforts to unravel our Democratic system.

Kinzinger on MSNBC Tuesday appealed to his Democratic friends, saying he understands frustration and disappointment with conservatives and moderates, but that threats to democracy require a cooperative, collaborative approach in Congress.

We have all got to come together because, if you truly believe democracy is in threat if you truly believe that then we need uncomfortable alliances, he added.

Original post:
Kinzinger: Donald Trump brought heaps of fear into the Republican Party - The Hill

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rolled out a coalition of Republicans mostly former officeholders and gubernatorial appointees backing her reelection campaign at an event in Grand Rapids Monday evening.

Though many of the Republicans assembled to support the Governor were only moderately conservative, there is still some distance on policy. Whitmer and her supporters instead placed a focus on shared values.

This is a moment where we have got to come together and I think many of the things that bind all of us standing here (is that) we care about democracy, we care about decency, and we care about individual freedom, Whitmer said at the press conference. We may not agree on everything, but these are fundamental to who we have been in Michigan, and who we need to continue to be.

Whitmer will face Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon in the general election Nov. 8.

Related: Tudor Dixon walks the tightrope in gubernatorial bid

Its emblematic of the political moment, where some moderately conservative voters repulsed by the GOPs enduring thrall of former president Donald Trump and his priorities have found themselves politically homeless. The campaigns effort mirrors a similar effort during Whitmers last campaign.

Jeff Timmer, the former Michigan Republican Party executive director, cofounded a group in 2020 that led that effort to support now-President Joe Biden. He is also now backing Whitmer for much the same reasons. In an interview, Timmer said the group is about creating the permission structure for conservatives to become crossover voters in the general election.

Related: Why a former Michigan GOP leader joined disillusioned Republicans against Trump

Among some of these those in attendance Monday, Timmer included, disproven yet persistent conspiracy theories about the integrity of Michigans elections weighed heavily in their decisions to support Whitmer.

If we ever have the luxury of debating policy in elections theres differences that I would have, but I view the choice before us as much more existential, Timmer said. (Dixon is) fueling the lies that have weakened our democracy and brought us to this point where were the faith in our elections is hanging by a thread due to propaganda by people like Tudor Dixon.

Dixon doesnt currently outright deny the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, but previously waffled on the issue during the gubernatorial primary and has claimed the true result of the 2020 presidential election is unknowable.

Related: Republican candidates want to stop talking about 2020 fraud claims. They may not have a choice.

Dixons campaign brushed aside Whitmers GOP supporters as elites that dont represent everyday people.

We are attracting the support of business owners who had their livelihoods crushed by Whitmer, law enforcement officials who can no longer take the radical bent of todays Democrat(ic) Party that sides with defund the police, and parents who had their children locked out of schools by this cruel, heartless Governor, Sara Broadwater, a spokesperson for Tudor Dixons campaign, said in a statement. Well take their support over the Lansings big government cocktail crowd any day of the week.

Jim Haveman, the director of the former Department of Community Health under Republican governors Rick Snyder and John Engler, said he hadnt seen enough substance from Dixons platform.

Having been in both with Governor Engler and Governor Snyder, I know what government can do to make this state better. And I just havent seen a platform from the candidate to make a difference, Haveman said of Dixon.

Other participants of Republicans for Whitmers 35-member leadership council include major Republican donor Bill Parfet; former State Reps. Doug Hart, Mike Pumford and Mickey Knight; from State Sens. Tony Rocca and Mel Larsen; former U.S. Rep. and state legislator Joe Schwarz; election attorney Joe Pirich and former Michigan Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Bob LaBrandt.

Whitmers pitch to swayable voters is not necessarily to compromise on key issues, but instead a promise to hear them out and uphold small-d democratic values.

I recognize that we may not agree on every issue, but I am focused on solving problems and I will sit at the table and make room for any person who wants to solve problems, Whitmer said. What I dont have time for is people that just want to wage culture wars and talk about things that arent going well.

The campaigns bet is that, for increasingly endangered moderate Republicans, that offer may be enough.

Read more at MLive:

Macomb County GOP asks federal court to decertify the 2020 election

Michigan Republican SOS candidate Kristina Karamo tried to crash car with family in it, according to court filing

Tudor Dixon agrees to Oct. 13 debate with Gretchen Whitmer

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack leaving court

Millions in Pro-Whitmer spending gives Michigan Democrats the advertising edge this fall

Read more:
Republicans For Whitmer group unveiled in bid for crossover support - MLive.com

The Wisconsin Republican senator Ron Johnson, a vocal critic of Beijing who has vowed to launch investigations into the Biden familys alleged relationships with Chinese businesses, declared $57m in income in his first 10 years in office in connection to his ownership stake in a company whose growth has closely been linked to China.

Financial disclosures show the senators wealth has sharply increased during his years running for and serving in the Senate thanks to his holding in Oshkosh-based Pacur, a plastics maker where Johnson previously served as top executive.

Johnson is seeking re-election for a third term in a tough contest against Democrat Mandela Barnes, who polls show has a slight edge over the Republican incumbent.

During his first run for public office before his 2010 election, Johnson portrayed himself as a successful businessman who knew how to create jobs. An advertisement he used in both his successful 2010 and 2016 campaigns showed the 67 year-old standing in front of a white board, touting his own record as a manufacturer, a fact that he said made him stand out in a sea of lawyers who serve in the Senate.

A close examination of Johnsons financial disclosures and other public filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, legal filings and other public records reveal that Johnsons wealth was boosted by his companys ties to another company that was owned and managed by his family, which in turn grew its business in China, acquired businesses in China, and reported having a loan worth tens of millions of dollars from the Bank of China.

In one case, the company run by Johnsons family sued the US government to try to press for softer trade relations with Beijing, a position that Johnson himself adopted in a rare break with Trump administration policies.

Johnson sold his stake in Pacur in 2020, although documents show that an LLC owned by Johnson and his wife, Jane, still receives up to $1m annually through rent and royalties as owners of the building where Pacur operates.

Pacur was co-founded by Johnson and his brother-in-law in the 1970s. It was in effect closely tied to a larger company called Bemis, which was founded and run by Johnsons father-in-law, Howard Curler.

SEC documents show that, from about 1998 to 2010, Bemis paid tens of millions of dollars to Pacur, which was a supplier to Bemis. Johnson also personally owned Bemis stock, valued at between $1m and $5.2m on financial disclosure forms. The stock was later gifted to the senators family foundation, called the Grammie Jean Foundation.

A spokesperson for Johnson said the senator had no beneficial interest in the foundation.

Bemis, records show, had a steady and growing presence in China under the leadership of Jeffrey Curler, Howard Curlers son and Ron Johnsons brother-in-law. The company has plants in China and in 2013, records show, appear to have acquired tens of millions of dollars in Chinese debt in connection to a Chinese acquisition. SEC filings show that Bemis also disclosed in 2016 that it had a $50m Bank of China loan.

Bemis was sold to Australia-based Amcor in 2018 in a deal valued at $6.8bn. The Guardian reached out to Amcor for more details about the $50m loan, which appeared in Bemis filings before Amcor acquired the company. A spokesperson for Amcor said Amcor was not involved in the loan and did not have insights into the transaction.

Bemis was also active on issues related to trade during Johnsons Senate tenure.

In two cases, the group filed suit against the US governments policies on trade in China, including one suit in 2018. In the legal action brought by Bemis and Rollprint Packaging Products, the plaintiffs sued the United States to contest a finding by the International Trade Commission in support of tariffs on China. The lawsuit did not appear to proceed beyond the complaint. At the same time, Johnson was a vocal critic of US trade policy against China, marking a rare disagreement with Trump.

Johnson has also made speeches in the Senate that criticized financial transactions by the presidents son Hunter Biden, which he claimed were tied to Communist China and meant that Joe Biden was probably compromised on China.

The Biden familys vast web of foreign financial entanglements, Johnson alleged, had serious implications, and Johnson said he and fellow Republican senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa would continue to investigate them.

Our challenge is the deep state does not give up its secrets easily, Johnson said in a speech on the Senate floor in March.

A recent investigation by the Washington Post found that CEFC China Energy, a Chinese energy conglomerate, paid nearly $5m to entities controlled by Hunter Biden and his uncle. But it did not find evidence that Joe Biden personally benefited or knew about the transactions, which occurred after Biden left the vice-presidency and before he announced his presidential run.

Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Johnson, denied that Johnson had any connections to his own family companys previous business interactions with Chinese companies.

He never had any managerial involvement in, or knowledge of the management actions taken by Bemis Company and had no connection to China or conflict of interest there.

Until your inquiry, he had no knowledge of Bemiss business holdings in China or any legal action Bemis was involved in. The Bemis company was one of many customers Senator Johnsons business sold plastics to, Henning said.

She also defended Johnsons position on tariffs. His belief is politicians in both parties have used Chinas trade abuses to demagogue against their political opponents without enacting effective solutions.

Henning also denied that Johnson accrued $57m in income in connection to Pacur from 2009 to 2020, because she claimed some of the funds were designated as gross receipts even though they are listed in financial disclosure forms as income.

Gross receipts are the amount of business that an organization reports before stripping out expenses. When asked by the Guardian to explain why Johnson had listed the funds as income in his financial disclosures, and what the gross receipts referred to, Henning did not respond.

Got a tip? You can contact the reporter at Stephanie.Kirchgaessner@theguardian.com

See the article here:
Republicans wealth boosted by stake in company whose growth linked to China - The Guardian US

DENVER, Colo.Some Republican candidates are scrambling to revamp their campaign websites, updating their positions on abortion to get in line with the general electorate.

Not Joe ODea. Thats not because his staff hasnt gotten around to it or because he refuses to bow to media pressure, but because the pro-choice Colorado Republican doesnt think he has anything to run from in a year in which abortion has become a central campaign issue.

ODea may be the most disciplined Republican running for Senate this year. At times, his straightforward messaging borders on boring. Yet in the current Republican Party environment, that may be a winning strategy, and Colorado is turning into a glimmer of hope for a party feeling less than ebullient about the prospects of recapturing the upper chamber.

"If any of the other candidates can learn something from me, its just stay disciplined," ODea told the Washington Free Beacon. "Stay on message and make sure we're delivering the message thats gonna get us across the finish line."

A survey from the Republican Attorneys General Association finds ODea in a statistical tie with Sen. Michael Bennet (D.) in a state President Joe Biden won by 13 points. Few, if any, other Republicans running for office in a competitive district or state are in such a good position at the beginning of September.

Democrats know ODeas campaign is resonating with voters. In what Politico described as a "panic," Democratic organizations spent millions of dollars in a desperate attempt to boost ODeas former primary opponentthe state representative Ron Hanks, who boasted on the campaign trail that he was "100 percent pro-life" and rallied at the Capitol on Jan. 6in the final weeks of the race.

The Democratic effort to nominate Hanks may backfire in the general election, as voters were inundated, in the races early days, with ads describing ODea as a moderate disloyal to former president Donald Trump. With ODea as a nominee, the race has shifted from "likely Democratic" to "lean Democratic," according to the Cook Political Report.

ODeas message of shutting down illegal immigration, banning radical sex-ed in schools, and cutting spending does not differ much from the rest of the Republican Party field nationwide except on a single issue: abortion. ODea is pro-choice. He supports restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks, a practice embraced by many European countries.

At a candidate forum in Littleton last month, arch-conservatives sporting Trump T-shirts and "Lets Go Brandon" signs appeared relatively unconcerned with those views. Their focus instead was on critical race theory, illegal immigration, and a stream of fentanyl flowing over the southern border.

One woman, who identified as Catholic, accused ODea during a question-and-answer session of being no different than Bennet on the issue of abortion. The audience was silent. A few rolled their eyes or shook their heads.

"Im Catholic, I have my own faith. I really think my critics [on abortion] need to do the research," O'Dea told the woman. "Michael Bennet has come out and said he supports late term abortion, up to and including in the birth canal. I think thats outrageous. I think that we need some balance. Ive stated very early during the primary my stance on this and Ive been for a mothers right."

Theres a longstanding conviction among political operatives in Colorado that moderating on abortion could be the key to success for the Republican Party. Bennet has never cracked 50 percent in a race since he was appointed to the seat in 2009, and political operatives believe Republicans blew an opportunity the following year, when the Republican Party racked up long-shot victories in states across the country such as Massachusetts but not in Colorado.

A Colorado political operative working to help elect Republicans in the midterms pointed to the 2010 Republican Senate nominee, Rep. Ken Buck,who took a staunchly pro-life stance, including in the case of rape and incesta view he broadcast on Meet the Press two weeks before the election and which Democrats drew attention to in the closing days of the race. Bennet then won with 48 percent of the vote, despite Buck leading by an average of 3 points in the polls just before the election.

The belief that Bucks interview sunk his chances isnt just held by Colorados moderate Republicans. "Social issues distracted" from the race, the then-president of FreedomWorks Matt Kibbe said just after the election.

It is also possible that Buck misread his own partys electorate. Just 56 percent of Colorado Republicans polled in February, before the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, disagreed with the statement that "all Colorado women should have access to abortion care." An overwhelming majority of voters in the state, including a critical Republican-voting constituencywhites without a college degreeagreed.

Voters in Pueblo, Colo., a small city that sits in a rural district represented by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R.), were not animated by the abortion issue. All of those who spoke with the Free Beacon were open to voting for a Republican in November and said they were far more concerned about economic issues and Democratic prosecutors and judges letting criminals back on the street with light sentences.

"Im not big on any of the politicians elected in the state right now. I mostly look at platforms and make a decision on who will do the best thing for the state," said Chris Diaz, a rancher in his 20s from a neighboring town who said he leans conservative. "I dont take a hard position on abortion when deciding to vote, because I understand there are circumstances where it may be necessary. On the same side, I personally dont agree with the practice."

Another woman, Angela Texo, said during a cattle auction at the Colorado State Fair that she was personally pro-life. But, Texo added, a candidates position on abortion wasnt something shes paying attention to during this election cycle.

"I dont think abortion should be banned here," she said. "Its just not something I really factor in when picking a candidate."

Views like these illustrate how describing the Colorado electorate is a challenge for many Republicans. Judging by presidential election results since 2008, the state is bluer than Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

But anyone who lives in the state knows that is far from the case. The governor, Jared Polis (D.), has broken with his party on issues related to COVID-19 and taxes. Most of the state remains rural, and many voters who moved to the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas from California left their home states to flee what they considered incompetent liberal governance.

Bennet is acutely aware of this, and his campaigns central pitch is that hes a centrist, rugged Coloradoan enjoying frontier life. He wants voters to forget his tremendous wealth, which has skyrocketed during his time in office, and his voting recordover 98 percent of the time with Bidenin a state suffering from a Biden hangover.

It is here, on the question of authenticity, where ODea may have the biggest advantage over his opponent. The adopted son of a police officer, ODeas first job was as a union carpenter before he landed at Colorado State University on a scholarship. Then he dropped out to start his own construction company.

Bennet was born in New Delhi, India, to the life-long Democratic operative Douglas Bennet. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended the exclusive St. Albans School before graduating from Wesleyan University and Yale Law School.

After law school, Bennet worked for Ohio governor Richard Celeste, a former colleague of his father. He later served in the Clinton administration before cashing out as a managing director at Anschutz Investment Company. His net worth is estimated to be in the tens of millions.

That privileged background, ODea says, has ended up costing Colorado. Bennet hasnt cut the same figure as moderate Democrats such as Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) or Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) or managed to extract concessions from the White House and party leadership on major legislation. "Bennet should have made his Senate vote count for Colorado," ODea told the Free Beacon. "He waits and asks Joe Biden which vote he should take and then rubber-stamps the agenda. And thats a problem and thats why Im going to get elected here."

Unlike candidates who have felled Republican hopes in years pasttheres unfortunately an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to "Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in the 2012 United States elections"ODea has avoided cringe-inducing soundbites.

He speaks in plain English. "We got fentanyl killing our kids," and, "We need to complete the wall" are the sorts of things youll hear ODea tell voters on the campaign trail. ODeas remarks dont cause voters to raise their eyebrows in confusion at references to buzzwords or ideological concepts found on Twitter or niche policy journals.

As the Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund pulls spending plans from Arizona over concerns the Republican nominee is not electable, there are rising hopes among Colorado Republicans that national groups could begin spending big for ODea. For now, the ODea campaign is focused on retail politics.

"Weve built a huge coalition across the state. Weve got Trump Republicans, we've got GOP Republicans, weve got the unaffiliated, and weve got some really disenchanted Democrats that are mad at their party for all these policies," ODea said in Littleton. "I want to do whats right for Colorado."

See the original post:
Republican Joe ODea Thinks He Has the Formula To Win in a Blue State - Washington Free Beacon