Post-Trump GOP plan: Focus efforts on state

Re: “Principle over power: Let’s form a new Republican party” [Jan. 31, Opinion]:

Chris Vance’s call to form a successor to the Republican Party is appropriate, but I think he is mistaken to wait for all of the anti-Trump Republicans in Congress to act. Grand coalitions can be useful and are certainly exciting, but it is unlikely that the same tools that advance policy goals will be equally effective in disrupting a cult of personality. Vance should focus on creating a post-Trump plan for Washington state and let the other states and state parties follow or chart their own courses.

We have no Republican U.S. senators, but we have two U.S. representatives who voted for impeachment. They should follow political activist and 2016 independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin’s advice and ask not what is right for the Republican Party, but what is right for Washington state. Whether that is an independent Washington state Republican Party or a new party, they will find the help that they need to move the state and nation forward. I will be with them and with Vance.

One-party rule in Washington state is the result of state law. Let’s find our own way to end it, not look for our champions elsewhere.

Owen Crew, Olympia