GOP has gone downhill since its glory days

I can remember sitting on our living room floor in 1952 listening to the Republican Convention. Every time I cheered for Robert Taft, my brilliant 11-year-old sister would say: “You dummy! We’re for Eisenhower.”

I remember in 1960 trying to convince my classmates in a Catholic boy’s high school in Chicago that Richard Nixon would be a much better president than John F. Kennedy.

But the Republican Party has gone so far downhill since President Eisenhower, President William Howard Taft, Everett Dirksen, Nelson Rockefeller and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. that I don’t think I will ever again trust a Republican office holder or candidate.

My oldest sister keeps trying to convince me to call my representative, Devin Nunes, about health care because representatives count their calls. My previous contacts with Nunes convinces me that he can’t count past five. At least David Valadao isn’t my representative.

Many have debated whether Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush was the worst modern president. Debate is finished. Donald Trump has already claimed the title. I worked very hard the last 30 years to leave my kids a better country and a better world. Obviously I failed. Sorry, kids.

This story was originally published March 20, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "GOP has gone downhill since its glory days."