Some Republicans disdain Barack Obama. Considering the failure that has been his foreign policy over the past 7 years, I can see why. Some Republicans disdain Hillary Clinton. Considering the way she handled both the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi and, as socialist Bernie Sanders called them, her “damn emails,” as Secretary of State, I can see why. However, any sensible Republican should take the negative energy aimed at a lame-duck president and a weak opposing frontrunner and redirect it at something much more dangerous to the party’s viability: the far right of the party, namely the Tea Party movement and everyone associated with it.

     Despite a recent Gallup poll showing support for the Tea Party being at its lowest point since the group’s rise to political prominence in the 2010 midterm elections, the movement is still as influential as ever. In Congress, former Speaker of the House John Boehner was driven by the far right Tea Party to resign after he made the sensible decision to not risk a government shutdown by fighting a sure-to-be-losing battle against President Obama over the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood. In the race for the Republican nomination, four candidates (Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz) supported by the Tea Party are polling in the field’s top five. Especially in southern states, Tea Party candidates can still be found running for state senate seats. In essence, all levels of government contain candidates affiliated with the Tea Party.

     As one would expect, by making all these aforementioned inroads, the Tea Party has a vastly inflated sense of self-worth. And, some of that is warranted. After all, Republicans never would have gained the large majority they did in the House of Representatives back in 2010 had it not been for the Tea Party. The thing is, it isn’t 2010 anymore. On a national scale, voters (especially independents), are looking for candidates that are willing to end the gridlock that has crippled Washington over the past five years. They are looking for candidates with common-sense views on social issues and economic policy. They are looking for the antithesis of the Tea Party movement.

If the Republican Party hopes to take back the White House and remain competitive in senate and house elections next November, they must realize it is time to nip the Tea Party movement in the bud. Instead of appeasing the Tea Party and moving to the fringe on issues like immigration and social welfare/entitlement reform, the establishment must draft a party platform that is much more inclusive of people from all walks of life. In a country with a growing Hispanic population, it is downright nonsensical for any Republican to support a racially insensitive candidate like Donald Trump who literally wants to deport all illegal immigrants and build a wall around our southern border. In a country where tragedy is an all too common occurrence, it is nonsensical for any Republican to endorse a candidate like Ben Carson who, among other things, recently said 1) the Holocaust wouldn’t have been as fast to occur if German citizens were armed and 2) victims of the recent mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon could have limited the shooters damage had they just been brave enough to confront the shooter. In a country where the Supreme Court has ruled same-sex marriage to be legal, it is nonsensical for any Republican, irrespective of how they feel about the issue, to support a candidate like Ted Cruz who acknowledges one of his main campaign platforms is to fight the Supreme Court to get the same-sex marriage decision reversed. In a country where around 16 percent of citizens live in poverty, it is nonsensical for any Republican to support a candidate who wants to drastically cut entitlement spending and handicap a myriad of children and single moms. In a world where people are having sex outside of marriage more and more often, it is nonsensical for any pro-life Republican (like myself) to support a candidate who opposes coverage of birth control in a woman’s health care plan.

     So then, if all this is blatantly obvious, why is it the Republican Party continues to allow itself to deteriorate on the national stage? Why does the Republican electorate continue to support unelectable candidates like Trump, Carson, and Cruz? Why is the Tea Party playing a major role in who holds the position of Speaker of the House? Where have all the sensible Republicans gone? Sadly, I can’t answer these questions. And, until I can, being a moderate Republican will suck.