The Return of Romney

In 1787, 55 of our founding fathers convened and drafted a government predicated on the idea that no one institution should hold too much power. They splintered authority into so many pieces that no one of them could possibly make any rash, ill-conceived or outright malicious decisions without the loud objections of their colleagues. The Senate and House check each other, as do the president and their cabinet, and over that, the legislature and executive; the judiciary restrains all their fellow branches. This system characterized democracy.

So when President Trump announces that another unfit executive appointee or judge has been approved, blatantly obstructs justice and tyrannically bashes his checks—the judiciary, the media and the states—and still no serious discussion of impeachment has begun, you might be wondering why. The answer to that is simple: the current Congress has failed its job as a branch of government that keeps its fellow branches in check. It has allowed the president to make poor decisions and has stood idly by, allowing his tantrums to pass without consequence.

That is why I believe that in the wake of Orrin Hatch’s retirement announcement, Mitt Romney should run for a seat to represent Utah in the Senate. Hatch has one of the president’s most powerful enablers. He has openly supported Trump, calling him “one heck of a leader,” while Trump has shown that he depends on Hatch in the Senate, having begged him to run for an eighth term in office. We should seize the moment to replace him with Romney, who is actually willing to fulfill a senator’s purpose as a check and balance.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has not shied from criticizing the president, calling him a “phony, a fraud” and saying that his promises are “as worthless as a degree from Trump University.” Trump has not been friendly to Romney either; his urging of Hatch to run for an eighth term was ultimately to block Romney from the Senate. I would personally prefer to see a Democrat elected, but seeing how Orrin Hatch’s seat is in Utah and a Democrat has close to no chance in being elected there, Romney would, in my opinion, be the most well-suited politician to take his seat.

I do not believe that Romney will vote against Trump in most issues; he is, after all, still a Republican. However, he will be a Republican senator who won’t yield before the president; a Republican senator who is willing to put the security of this nation and its democracy over their party’s wishes; a Republican senator who is capable of doing his job as mandated by the Constitution. His presence in the Senate is important in demonstrating that standing up to the president is not reserved for Democrats, and is a bipartisan matter.

I do not agree with Romney on many fronts. However, I do know that we both love this nation, and we both want democracy to be preserved for our posterity. Right now, democracy is under great threat. I believe that by electing people like Mitt Romney we may see a Congress that can look past the lines of partisanship and act to properly check this current administration.