As a Democrat and a Republican: What I Want Is Not Hard to Understand
- john raymond
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
People have spent so long dividing the world into tribes—blue vs. red, left vs. right, woke vs. MAGA—that they seem genuinely confused when someone like me refuses to play along. So let me say it clearly. I am both a Democrat and a Republican, not because I am confused, but because I remember what each party once stood for—and because I will not let either party's failure absolve me of my duty to fight for what matters.
What I want is not hard to understand. I want intelligent government, not bloated waste. I want progressive taxation—not because I hate the wealthy, but because I believe in the postwar promise: that when we all do well, the country thrives. I want strong public investment in the common good, in education, infrastructure, health care, and climate resilience. I want personal liberty preserved, not just on paper but in practice. I want democracy to be real, not a performance. And above all, I want the United States to stand for something again—not just here at home, but around the world.
I call myself a Republican insurgent inside the Democratic Party not because I want to blow things up, but because I want to restore something. The party of Eisenhower believed in building things. The party of Roosevelt believed in protecting people. Somehow, both visions got lost in the modern theater of grievance and gridlock. Now, we are left with a shattered GOP run by would-be autocrats and a Democratic Party unsure if it can still say the word "justice" without a consultant's permission.
I don’t have patience for either’s cowardice. I have loyalty only to the principles that built a better world once and can do so again. Let the Trumpists call me a traitor. Let the Democratic consultants call me a nuisance. I don’t care. I fight for the America that was promised, not the one being auctioned off. I want good governance. I want democracy defended. And I want those who would destroy either to fail, whether they wear a red tie or a blue ribbon.
That is what I want. And it is not hard to understand.
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