Two Republican Senators – One Entering, One Leaving – Warn of the Threat to Democracy

Mitt Romney and Jeff Flake, as they moved in and out of the Senate, both chose to publish warnings of the vulnerabilities of democracy, foreign and domestic.

Romney, in a high-profile opinion column in the Washington Post appearing as he was being sworn in as the new senator from Utah, argued the presidency shapes the public character of the nation, and at a time of division and stress, we need leadership of honesty, projecting comity and respect, but instead have one offering resentment and name calling.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), with wife Ann, is sworn into office
 by Vice President Mike Pence in the U.S. Capitol in Washington,
D.C., Jan. 3, 2019 | Cheryl Diaz Meyer/Deseret News

Further, he stated that the world looks to America for leadership and instead gets an America, the victim, angry, going it alone and offering no leadership at a time when autocratic powers, like China and Russia, work tirelessly to undermine democracy. He wrote that our strength is greatest when we have allies and our allies are most dependable when we project the essence of our creed of freedom, rule of law and equal justice.

Flake, in his final senate speech, without mentioning Trump, herald the need to defend democracy as he reminisced about his term. From new freedom in Namibia, to Czech President Václav Havel speech, to a joint session of Congress, Flake sees the dangers to democracy today and the need for American leadership.

Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) delivers his farewell remarks
on the Senate floor, Dec. 13, 2018. | Senate TV via AP

He stated: “We of course are testing the institutions of American liberty in ways that none of us likely ever imagined we would – and in ways that we never should again…I believe that we all know well that this is not a normal time, that the threats to our democracy from within and without are real, and none of us can say with confidence how the situation that we now find ourselves in will turn out.”

Flake worries the commitment to democracy could be lost:

“As the authoritarian impulse reasserts itself globally, and global commitment to democracy seems to now be on somewhat shaky ground, I have been thinking a lot recently about the American commitment to democracy – where it comes from and how, if the circumstances were right, it might slip away.”

. . .

“As we in America – during this moment of political dysfunction and upheaval – contemplate the hard-won conventions and norms of democracy, we must continually remind ourselves that none of this is permanent, and that it must be fought for constantly.”

The threat to democracy, foreign and domestic, will be a major theme in 2019 and the next presidential election.