Biden: More Republican Than Trump

I have worked as a special assistant to Presidential appointees in both Democratic and Republican administrations. I’m a lifelong Democrat, though I have voted for and made campaign contributions to Republicans. My closest business partners are both Republicans who have run for office, one of them successfully. To paraphrase Senator Lloyd Bentsen’s icy assessment of his opponent for the Vice Presidency, Senator Dan Quayle, I served with Republicans. I knew Republicans. Republicans are friends of mine. And Donald Trump is no Republican.

We're talking about the Republicans from Eisenhower through the two Bushes, not the progressive Republicans from the era of Abraham Lincoln through the early 20th century. For decades, the post-WWII Republican party consistently stood for limited government, a strong national defense, and strictly limited government spending, minimizing or even eliminating the budget deficit and consequent borrowing. Republicans also claimed to be the party of personal responsibility and consistently claimed that respect, character, and family values were paramount.

Trump and his chaotic, incompetent administration have violated every one of these principles with rampant corruption and self-dealing, human rights abuses, and an avalanche of mis-statements and outright lies along with insults of elected officials, world leaders, and journalists…