This commentary is by Robert L. Walsh of South Burlington, who taught African American history at South Burlington High School from 1980 to 1995, was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Vermont from 2001 to 2006, and was a state representative from 1983 to 1989. He was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a veteran of the Vietnam War. In 2001, he and Dr. Leon Burrell co-authored “The Other America: The African American Experience,” and he also wrote and published “Through White Eyes: Color and Racism in Vermont” and a short biography of Francis Brooks, “Brooks of Montpelier.”
When I represented South Burlington in the Vermont House of Representatives, all three of the city’s representatives were Republicans. My political philosophy was and continues to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
In the 1990s, as the Republican Party continuously moved to the right, I declared myself an independent. It has been disquieting to watch the Republican Party continue to move right, culminating with many of its members embracing and participating in the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
As the events leading up to the insurrection unfolded, I was reminded of Adolf Hitler’s1923 “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich. On that day, Hitler’s storm troopers marched into the city center in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government.
Ten years later, Hitler was legally appointed chancellor of Germany. He accomplished this with the support of his storm troopers, his personal magnetism, and the efforts of his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.
The similarities of what is occurring in our country today are unavoidable.
In my first term as a representative (1983-1985), Republicans were in the majority. Six years later, Democrats were firmly in control. Today, with few Republicans in the House or Senate, we essentially have one-party governance. The immediate prospects for the Vermont Republican Party as a viable political alternative are questionable.
As the congressional hearings by the committee investigating the January 2021 insurrection at the nation’s Capitol unfold, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Republican Party has morphed into something unrecognizable.
It is no longer the Party of Lincoln. Although at the national level its leaders continue to appease the party’s radical base, that doesn’t require Vermont Republicans to follow in lockstep.
I believe it’s important to have more Republican representation in Vermont’s General Assembly. The first step in attracting voters is for the current Republican leadership to reassess its goals and move closer to the political center. The second step is to nominate electable candidates.
