By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
The below op-ed is a thought exercise – a structured hypothetical meant to test assumptions, reveal contradictions, and sharpen our understanding by playing out ideas to their logical end. It is not a forecast or a policy proposal. It’s a lens designed to examine the mindset, strategy, and consequences of a particular ideological posture within the Republican Party.
Specifically, I explore what happens when purist Republicans are given full authority to define and reshape the party without reasonable question or resistance. No opposition, no internal debate, no moderating voices – just a blank check to purge, label, and remake the GOP according to their uncompromising standards.
Rather than argue with them, I follow the scenario to what I believe is its natural conclusion – conclusion, mind you, that I am motivated to avoid entirely. So, with that said, as my article’s premise …
Let’s give the purists everything they want.
Let them call the shots. Let them draw the lines. Let them wield the RINO stamp like a sword.
No pushback. No pleading. No compromise. Give them carte blanche authority to define, with theological precision, who is “truly” conservative and who is not.
Let them purge.
Let them disavow the moderates. Expel the centrists. Rid the party of libertarians, pragmatists, and reformers.
Let them cast out those of us who aim to inspire conviction through truth rather than enforce conformity through fear. Let them exile anyone who has ever voted for a tax increase, negotiated a bipartisan deal, or dared suggest that winning elections might require expanding the tent.
Let them cast out those who speak with nuance, who prefer persuasion to provocation, or who believe our enemies are external rather than internal.
And do not resist.
Don’t defend yourself. Don’t try to argue with them. Don’t attempt to save the party from their hands. Instead, politely step aside. Withdraw from the committees. Surrender the primaries. Leave the local boards. Let them have it all – the platform, the brand, the infrastructure, the strategy.
Let them keep the ashes of what they believe to be the party’s true flame.
Because once they finish this grand pruning – once they’ve cut the movement down to its purest and noblest form – then and only then will we see the results of their long-promised revolution.
We will not interfere. We will simply observe.
Will they grow the base? Will they flip seats? Will they win the hearts and minds of the undecided? Will they pass meaningful policy? Will they communicate a hopeful vision? Will they even be noticed outside of their own echo chamber?
Or will they become wholly irrelevant – loud, proud, and powerless?
I will bet every dollar in every account I own that it will be the latter.
Because purity does not inspire. Isolation does not persuade. And rage is neither strength nor does it build.
So let the purists purge. Let them burn the bridges and fortify their ideological bunker. Let them become a perfect museum piece of what the party used to be. Let the pruning finish.
Because only then, only after they’ve reduced the Republican Party to a rigid minority of self-satisfied voices yelling into a shrinking void, will the conditions be right for rebirth.
And that, my friends, is when we rebuild.
Not in their image. Not in rebellion against them. But from the ashes of what they dismantle, we will forge a new coalition – grounded in the very principles our Founding Fathers held dear: reason, liberty, virtue, and self-governance.
One that triumphs not by silencing dissent, but by leading with truth that informs, grace that reconciles, and strength that empowers others to rise. Not to exalt ourselves, but to preserve and advance the republic with which we were entrusted.
Let them prune. The harvest we’re planting won’t need their permission.
C. J. Garbo is a seasoned political strategist and former campaign manager with experience leading campaigns at the local, county, state, and federal levels across Colorado. With over two decades of experience in law enforcement and public policy, Garbo has worked at every level of political operations – from grassroots mobilization to federal campaign management. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.Sc. in Human Resource Management and has advised candidates and elected officials on messaging, strategy, and party unity. A conservative who believes in persuasion over purges, Garbo brings clarity and depth to internal party dynamics and writes from firsthand experience in the ideological battles shaping the modern Republican movement.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.