In the past 10 days, two of the best young Republicans in Congress have announced they won’t seek reelection in 2020. Rather than retire from politics, though, Martha Roby of Alabama and Will Hurd of Texas should accept another challenge: Run as a ticket to wrest their party’s presidential nomination from Donald Trump.
Seriously.
Trump’s overall approval rating is permanently underwater, and he trails Joe Biden badly in head-to-head polls. He’s volatile enough that he could implode at any time. Somebody needs to be there to pick up the Republican pieces if he does — and, either way, to make the argument to Republican primary voters that Republicans can do better, in behavior, policy, and winnability, than they are doing with Donald J. Trump.
Roby and Hurd, although they certainly aren’t household names, would be more than capable of making that case. Moreover, they could help Republicans avoid looming political disaster by expanding the party’s appeal to younger Americans who are on the cusp of becoming the nation’s largest voting cohort.
So, who are Roby and Hurd? As described here last week, Roby is an engaging, personable, thoughtful public servant, one especially attuned to the needs of the military and veterans and, as a former city council member in Montgomery, Ala., also attuned to urban needs.
Hurd, meanwhile, is tremendously impressive. He was a student body president at Texas A&M who earned good national reviews for leadership when the school’s famous annual bonfire collapsed, killing a dozen students. He served nine distinguished years in the CIA, including in Central Asian war zones, and he is an expert on cybersecurity. Known for an indefatigable work ethic and a willingness to engage people in even the smallest and least Republican of communities, Hurd three times has won election in an overwhelmingly Hispanic district that leans Democratic on the presidential level.
Both Roby and Hurd are solid, but not hard-line, conservatives. Roby has a 72 lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and Hurd a 70 rating. Both have lifetime zero ratings from the left-wing Americans for Democratic Action. Both represent districts with median incomes well below the national norm (and well below that of Elijah Cummings, the Baltimore Democrat blasted by Trump last week). Both “connect” well with people, and both think well on their feet.
Trump may look unbeatable among Republicans right now, but popularity can plummet quickly. A president whose persona is built on perceived dominance and invulnerability can lose mojo quickly if he loses his indomitable air. In that light, it is worth noting that the traditional first presidential contest in Iowa happens to be in one of the few places where Trump’s dominance is least certain.
Trump lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016. Trump’s trade wars have been particularly hard on the American farm belt. Trump’s bombastic personality isn’t well suited to Iowa mores. And while polls of Iowa Republicans show they nominally support him for reelection in a vacuum, a near-plurality of them — a higher percentage than elsewhere in the country — say they hope a serious challenger to Trump emerges.
Nonetheless, it will take something unusual to knock Trump off his Republican pedestal. That’s where the idea of a ticket comes in. Presidential primary aspirants usually run for the top spot only; tickets come only after the nomination. Running as a ticket from the start, though, would be such a fresh approach, and would provide voters with such a more fully realized image of a potential administration, that it might just capture attention and tangible support.
Republicans desperately need a challenger to Trump. Martha Roby and Will Hurd could be just the ticket.
