Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld has always had the gumption and perhaps the luxury to go his own way in politics. A northeast Republican, he has never been considered a full fledged conservative by those who rank such things.
He has a deep background in government going back to his service on the staff of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. He served as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts and in the Reagan Justice Department, before becoming governor and later running for the U.S. Senate. A campaign he lost. In 2016, he ran as the vice presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party - doing his part to stop Donald Trump.
Now his focus is denying Trump a second term.
So far, he is the only Republican who has announced his intention to challenge Trump for the Republican Party nomination in 2020. A task considered Quixotic by most political observers.
Speaking to a small group during an event hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, Weld made clear his disgust with Trump the man and the president. He said his sole opponent right now is Trump - and his only goal is Trump's removal from the White House by means of the next election.
It may be Weld's long service in government that drives him to take on the president when most of the official apparatus of the Republican Party is doing what it can to hand deliver him the nomination.
For Weld, government and politics is a battle, but it is a battle with rules. He sees Trump as an amateur who knows nothing of the foundations of democracy in the United States and when Trump is exposed to the finer points he finds them disdainful and rejects them. He is therefore dangerous from Weld's perspective.
Less than a month after announcing his intention to run, Weld found himself speaking to this small ACLU gathering in Concord, New Hampshire. An unlikely place for a Republican candidate. The small crowd a testament to the Republican forces aligned against him that seem willing to crush any credible member of the club not willing to pledge loyalty to the president.
At 74 years old, Weld is unlikely to be seen as the future of the Republican Party, but like Joe Biden on the Democratic side, he might be seen by some as a model for how a politician should behave generally in the conduct of public affairs. A mix of passion, restraint and respect for the other side. A willingness to compromise to move forward.
His chance of success in this campaign is remote, but his candidacy asks Republican voters to choose between winning at all cost and decency.
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© Dean Pagani 2019