Senator Mitt Romney made
history when he voted against his own party’s president during the Trump
Impeachment Trial. This historic vote came after years of butting heads with Trump,
which is interesting because there was a time when Romney considered serving as
the Secretary of State under Trump’s administration. Their volatile relationship
has built up to this point, the impeachment foretold by many almost four years
ago. In an Atlantic article written by McKay Coppins, Romney said of his
decision “I have gone through a process of very thorough analysis and
searching, and I have prayed through this process, but I don’t pretend that God
told me what to do.”1
The Senator knew that
there would be incredible backlash from his party, and was probably not surprised
to receive backlash from his own family as his niece, RNC Chairwoman Ronna
McDaniel, criticized him soon after the vote happened. Romney is no stranger to
harsh critics, as he has always been seen as somewhat of a party traitor because
of his work with those across the aisle (although he claims he is more
conservative than Trump). This can be interpreted in many ways but one thing
that we should remember is that Romney is part of the older Republican party
that are seen by many as traditionalists. The election in 2016 saw a major
shift in the Republican party as issues such as immigration and refugees became
the forefront of their platform. This shift has brought more partisanship into Congress,
making the impeachment vote stand out even more. While he is feeling the heat
from his own side of the aisle, most Democrats have praised his actions, though
some are still unimpressed.
Romney’s behavior is
incredibly unusual, especially within the party. Many, notably voters and political
elites in today’s America, see the party as a tight-knit team that rely on each
other to make similar decisions and uphold the values and policies that they expect
from their party. They expect loyalty and the ability to trust that those that
they identify with are on the same page. Romney seems to buck that trend in shocking
ways.
With this surely on the forefront
of his mind, why did Romney decide to vote to impeach President Trump?
John Aldrich, an esteemed
political scientist, shed some light in this area in his book Why Parties?
Aldrich claims that parties are creatures of the politicians, ambitious office seekers
and officeholders. This means that politicians created and run the parties,
using them as a tool to achieve their goals. Aldrich states that politicians
don’t have partisan goals per se, but what should be considered as fundamental
goals, where the party is the instrument to achieve them. Parties differ on
emphasis they place on different values and in the means or policies. But, the goals of politicians are
prestige, reelection, and achieving policy ends. Internal party factions is
where the party is at.
Could this explain why
Romney did what he did? Instead of holding tight to the Republican Party, he
followed what he considered his fundamental goal, which according to him was to
follow his conscience and do what was best for his constituency. We notice more
of his position as he compared Trump to an autocrat and sees himself as something
of a defender of American ideals. In accordance to the theory of parties
presented by Aldrich, Romney used the party as a tool to get elected, and while
he may fundamentally identify as a Republican, he does what he can to hold prestige
and achieve his policy ends. Although it should be noted that whether or not the
party will be of assistance come reelection, we will have to wait and see.
There could be other
factors that Aldrich mentions that explain his vote as well. As stated above,
the Republican party that Romney considers himself to be a part of has shifted
into something unrecognizable. The remaining older faction within the party
better suits the party he knows. But factions do not seem to answer all of the
questions behind his behavior.
Through excessive backlash
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Romney runs for reelection,
if he does. It could be that he only wanted one term and is throwing his hail
marys now. If anything, Mitt has proven that he knows how to create a legacy.
Aldrich, John
H. 1995. “Why Parties?” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.1 May 2011, www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo11315021.html.
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