In 1984, I went to my first Reagan rally as a teenager. Behind me was a scruffy “hippie” type, probably there to heckle—or so I assumed. But as the President spoke, this man would blurt out, boisterously, “Bomb the Democrats!”. Each time with a little more gusto, each time the crowd chuckled louder. At one point, Reagan himself paused, looked our way, and with his trademark grin replied, “Well, yes. That too.” The crowd howled with laughter, delighted at Reagan’s quick wit and the absurdity of it all. Back then, politics could be sharp yet somehow light. We could disagree without blind hatred or apocalyptic dread over an election loss.
For years, I stayed entrenched on “my team,” firmly on the Right, sparring with Democrats on nearly every issue. Conservatism meant limited government, strong institutions, and respect for American traditions—principles, not personalities. Then in 2016, Trump arrived, brandishing a “Make America Great Again” slogan that sounded at first like a rallying cry for working-class America—a call to bring back jobs and stop endless wars.
But what began as a promise of revival quickly spiraled into a personality cult, where loyalty to the man overshadowed loyalty to the mission. We watched as MAGA mutated from a conservative-populist hybrid into a movement demanding blind fealty to one man, breaking through long-standing guardrails of civility, maturity, and respect in a way only a self-obsessed and vengeful figure like Trump could.
Ironically, I realized the biggest threat to conservatism wasn’t coming from the Left anymore—it was Trumpism itself. This new irrational, divisive, and conspiracy-driven movement pushed me to engage with my long-time political foes across the aisle. To my surprise, I found unexpected common ground with moderate and even liberal Democrats who, despite our ideological differences, shared my alarm at the erosion of norms and the dangerous idolatry that had taken root in our culture and halls of power. Suddenly, these former “opponents” shared more of my principles than the MAGA faithful ever could.
Today, I stand alongside Americans I once saw as adversaries—not because we agree on every issue, but because we share a vision of a fair, free, and stable America. Paradoxically, Trump has managed to unite us by showing exactly what we must guard against. We may debate fiercely, but I’ve learned that protecting our democratic foundations matters far more than winning any single political battle. Because, in the end, defending American principles isn’t a partisan job—it’s an American one.