Michael Turk -- Bush 43 Alum
Why he is supporting Harris-Walz in 2024
I have spent much of my life working in political campaigns and advocacy. When I started in political work in the 1990s, we had a saying in the Republican Party: “Character Counts”. In my career, I have worked for and with people of great character. My earliest political idols were New Mexico’s congressional delegation, a group split between 3 Republicans and two Democrats. Despite their differences, they put partisanship aside to deliver for New Mexico when it mattered.
I have been fortunate to work on three Presidential campaigns for Dan Quayle, George W Bush, and Fred Thompson. I also had the great privilege of working in the Bush Administration and as senior staff at the Republican National Committee. In all that time, I fought for conservative principles I believe in like a smaller federal government that better serves and aids the people without waste. I fought for a responsible federal budget. I worked for tax cuts for everyone, not just the wealthy. Along the way, I frequently disagreed with my party, but there was always a place for dissent.
That party is gone. Dissent is now disloyalty. To question the emperor is to be cast out as a RINO. The party casts aside its principles on a whim. It fails to fight for smarter policy, and instead exists only to oppose and to “own the libs.”
I still consider myself a conservative, and will never stop advocating for better policy and more efficient government. But I still believe that character counts. That is a notion the Republican Party has abandoned with Donald Trump. It is a party that feeds on lies, misleads its own, and willingly distorts the truth to cling to power. And for what? They continue to squander that power on nonsensical investigations, impeachment inquiries with no basis in constitutionality, and policies even the majority of their own conference will not support.
I am voting for Kamala Harris not because we agree on most of those policy positions, but because we agree that character, and public service, still matter. We agree that Donald Trump has no character, and his return to the White House is a threat to Democracy. I urge all of those I have worked with in the Republican Party over the past thirty years to reflect on why you worked, or work, in politics and ask if you truly believe Donald Trump represents those ideal.
Michael Turk served in the George W. Bush Administration at the Office of Management and Budget.