Two different notable Republicans are urging Ohio to vote Tim Ryan over JD Vance

On Wednesday morning, two other notable Republicans, David L. Hobson and John M. Bridgeland, took the floor to support Democrat Tim Ryan’s run for the US Senate in an op-ed piece ominously titled, “A republic, if You Can Keep Them” on Cleveland.com.

They began with a reminder from history of what is at stake:

When Benjamin Franklin came out of Independence Hall after the constitutional convention in 1787, a woman called out, “Doctor Franklin, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied, “a republic if you can keep it.” In the midterm elections, particularly for the next US Senator from Ohio, the question is whether voters will support candidates like ours Defend democracy and support our republic.

We’ve written at length about the authoritarian threat posed to the United States by the Republican Party and the terrifying decline in our “freedom” reputation. Republicans are literally taking instructions on how to achieve our country’s autocratization from Hungary’s “soft” fascist leader, Viktor Orbán, who was able to cause a democratic backslide in Hungary using the same mechanisms that Republicans apply here.

So these Republicans aren’t just blowing smoke about the threat.

Vance, they write, are “undermining trust in our democracy by promoting the myth that the 2020 presidential election was rigged — apparently only in the states Trump lost, considering Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points. Vance even promoted this myth after Trump instigated a riot in the US Capitol that killed and injured police officers and other Americans, and refused to attend the inauguration of the new president, signaling that he had no interest in a peaceful one transfer of power.”

The question for election deniers is why only the races they lost were allegedly rigged? How would they react if their own victories were challenged by unsubstantiated claims that gave way to a domestic terrorist attack on our country?

Tim Ryan, on the other hand, sees it as “constancy in his core values ​​and beliefs.”

As Republicans, we don’t agree with every position he holds, but there’s a lot to like about his honesty and approach—from supporting Ohio manufacturing jobs and educating workers to supporting our police officers and promoting law and order to enable the vulnerable to get a good education and a path to a decent job. He has also written a book about reviving the American spirit at a time when America should move forward rather than re-litigate a presidential election.

You address the voting bias in our own camps and call on conservatives to put country above party: “We call on Ohioans to vote for Tim Ryan for the US Senate to think of our country over the party and to keep our democracy strong and alive for generations to come.”

From every corner of the Republican Party, we have seen true patriots emerge in these dark times as our democracy faces serious threats and strains from its own party leaders.

Tim Ryan is leading a solid campaign against a Trump-backed venture capitalist backing the election denier, but the race is still close. Ryan has a long list of endorsements, but even if he hasn’t, the number one question for any candidate at this point is whether they will protect the United States of America and the individual liberties and liberties of its people. No Republican who supports Trump can honestly answer yes to that question as they are only championed by Trump because they are willing to sell him their souls for power.

Sarah was accredited to report on President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and she exclusively interviewed spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively reported on her first appearance at home after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

Sarah is a two-time Telly Award-winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.