3 former GOP chairs endorse Biden: The 'future of our democracy' is at stake

Ted O’Meara, the former chair of the Maine Republican Party, endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday in a blistering op-ed that slams his now former party as “a cult that blindly follows an unhinged narcissist who is perhaps the most ignorant, lawless and dangerous person to ever occupy the Oval Office.”

“I long for the principled Republican Party I once knew, but for that party to ever have a chance of re-emerging, the party of Trump and McConnell must be destroyed,” O’Meara wrote in the op-ed, published by the Portland Press Herald. “The future of our democracy may well hang in the balance.”

O’Meara joins a number of other former Republican Party chairs who have condemned Trump and endorsed Biden, saying Trump is a danger to the republic and must be defeated.

Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, who served as chair of the Republican National Committee from 2001 to 2003, decided after the first debate — when Trump refused to condemn white supremacists — that he had to vote for Biden.

“I’ve concluded that he’s dangerous to the existence of the republic as we know it,” Racicot told the New York Times.

And Michael Steele, who served as the only black chair of the Republican National Committee, announced as the Republican National Convention took place in August that not only was he voting for Biden, but he had also joined the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans actively working to vote Biden into office.

Steele told the Atlantic, “I don’t need reporters and these so-called Republicans coming up in my face, pointing their finger at me, telling me I’m a RINO [Republican in name only]. Kiss my ass. I haven’t changed, baby. You have. You’re the one embracing crazy, not me.”

The three former GOP leaders join a number of Trump’s former aides and former GOP officials who have also backed Biden.

Four former top Trump administration officials have endorsed Biden, citing Trump’s dangerous behavior.

Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, endorsed the Democratic nominee in August, saying that “the country is less secure as a direct result of the president’s actions.”

Other high-powered Republican figures who have backed Biden over Trump including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich; Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain; and former Sen. Jeff Flake.

Trump finds himself down 8 points to Biden, with less than a month to turn his political fortunes around.

More concerning for Trump is that even though there are 29 days until the election, voters are already voting. As of Monday morning, at least 3.3 million people have voted in the election, according to elections expert Michael McDonald.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.