Dear Paul Ryan

Dear Paul Ryan,

I’ve been thinking about the commonly-held belief in HR circles that people don’t quit a job; they quit a manager. I don’t want to quit the Republican Party, but I want to quit Donald Trump and the vast majority of GOP leadership. Please help.

Here’s what I really need: I need you to go to a microphone in front of a room full of cameras.  I need you to be sincere and eloquent and firm in renouncing Donald Trump.  I need you to say, “You know, I try to balance all of these competing interests.  I want to respect our voters and the primary process, because our process is important and the trust between voters and officials is sacred.  I want to balance that respect with my personal beliefs and with obvious truths about what is and is not good for the country.  Sometimes I get that balance right, but in endorsing Donald Trump, I got it wrong.  And so I take it back, not because that is politically expedient or popular or wise but because it is right.  And if our party loses the White House, so be it.  I would rather be the minority party and be rooted in convictions than to be in power without purpose.”

That’s all I need.  I know it’s a lot to ask, but I believe in you.  I believe in your ability to lead and to persuade others to tap into their better angels.  I believe that you are uniquely suited to unite the best parts of the conservative movement and to turn this awful cycle into a rebirth of the Party of Lincoln. 

And if that's not enough, I believe that if you do what I'm asking, you will be the President of the United States in 2020, and I (along with millions of others) will no longer want to quit this party.  

-b