Specifically, in which ways can a Republican be a “good” Republican, while still being distinct from a Democrat? (This is vaguely akin to our thread from a while ago, what makes good masculinity as opposed to feminine traits)
Opposing most of what Trump does or stands for would probably be listed as one, but what about others? (if it veers into “pro-choice, pro-LGBT, pro-UHC, pro-gun control, pro-amnesty”, then it’s beginning to verge into Democratic territory, as opposed to being an R)
Not in office.
Someone who makes evidence-based policy decisions. It’s one thing to argue that taxes should be cut to boost the economy, and another thing to argue that taxes should be cut because it will boost the economy so much that tax revenues will actually increase. One is realistic policy that we can debate the merits of, the other is a fantasy.
eta: There’s tons of examples of this but I don’t want to turn this into a rant.
Robert Mueller is a Republican. So, they can be like him: professional, principled, and committed to serving the country. I doubt that Mueller and I would agree on many policy issues. But I’m convinced he values the rule of law and wants what’s best for the country. You can be a good person and disagree with me on marginal tax rates or the proper role of federal regulation. But you really can’t be a “good Republican” if you’re still supporting Trump at this point.
You don’t even have a solid argument for being a good person.
Show me a Republican who actually listens to evidence, makes decisions based on facts and reason, and actually pursues the values they claim to hold.
I haven’t seen one yet.
Ronald Reagan is currently a good Republican.
Wrap him in copper wire and he could generate electricity.
Bravo for encouraging civility and class :dubious:
For clarification, I am asking for serious answers. Some of the answers here are decidedly non-serious.
You’re using the quotation marks differently here than in the thread title. When I saw “good Republican” in the thread title, I thought you were talking about someone who was good at being a Republican, the way a “good assassin” would be someone who was good at killing people. But it the OP, it sounds like you mean a Republican who is good (in the moral/ethical/character sense).
I think a good Republican in that sense would be one who puts country ahead of party—one who does what s/he genuinely believes is best for the whole country and its people (and the rest of the world) rather than what is in his/her own self-interest or that of a particular group (e.g. his party, his class, his cronies).
(And, with a nod to others who have mentioned evidence: I think he has a responsibility to make an effort to make sure what he genuinely believes aligns with reality.)
What makes a good Republican is the same thing that makes a good Democrat, or even a good person. Namely, living a virtuous life in service of others.
People can disagree about policy (to an extent) while still exemplifying virtue and goodness.
Here are some important criteria for being a good person. I think the question of “who is a good republican” can basically be boiled down to “who is a good person, and also a republican”. Assume, for the moment, I’m talking about elected leaders.
(Note: this already disqualifies about half of republican voters and almost all republican politicians.)
(Note: this, again, disqualifies most republican voters and almost all republican politicians, given Trump’s statements after Charlottesville.)
(Do I even have to say it?)
At this point, “republican” is so saddled with baggage that calling yourself a republican is akin to calling yourself a “gendercritical radical feminist” in terms of what it means about your personality. I mean, honestly, think about it - what’s most typically bundled up in that package? What do most people intuitively understand when they hear “republican”?
[ul]
[li]Climate denialist[/li][li]Trump supporter[/li][li]Possibly a young earth creationist[/li][li]Probably a homophobe[/li][li]Almost definitely a transphobe[/li][li]Possibly a fascist, or at least willing to put up with fascists[/li][li]Not racist, but willing to vote for racists and people who tolerate racists*[/li][li]Not misogynist, but has no problem voting for people accused of sexual assault[/li][/ul]
It ain’t pretty! Almost none of those positions are defensible. Any of them individually makes you kind of a shitty person. And these are absolutely the banners of the republican party in 2019.
So I’ll go ahead and say it. There are no good republicans. Not any more. Any “good republican” should have recognized by now that they don’t belong in the party of Donald Trump and either fought vigorously for reform or left. That group of people… basically doesn’t exist. There’s a handful of state legislators who swapped parties, and a handful of representatives who decided not to go for reelection (while rubber-stamping everything Trump did). As for the voters… Well, you can be a good person, or you can vote for the party of Donald Trump. Maybe you’re a decent human being aside from that, but if you’re looking for good people… Nah, you’re shit outta luck.
*It took the republican party until 2019 to figure out that Steve “We can’t repopulate with other people’s babies” King was a white nationalist, and even then only after he flat-out fucking said he was, and asked what was wrong with that.
I mentioned Evan McMullin in another thread. From what I’ve seen he’s socially and fiscally conservative but not irrationally so (he opposes gay marriage but accepts that it’s the law of the land, for example), accepts science (e.g. on climate change), and even supports the basics of PPACA. I disagree with many of his positions but he appears to be genuinely principled (which on the face of it is odd for a former CIA agent) and working for what he sees as best for the country rather than the party.
There used to be many more like him in the Republican Party but of late the party has adopted a policy of tolerating any behavior, no matter how immoral, corrupt, treasonous or outright illegal, as long as it benefits the party itself even if it harms the country, and has booted the Old School Republicans as RINOs.
Sure!
Know any good Nazis? 
That question may sound unfair, but given what you just said, I’m sure if you really thought about it, you could find plenty of Nazis, even ranking party members, who lived virtuous lives in service of others. They just disagreed about policy on a few things, like “what should we do with the jews” and “how should we treat the disabled” and “what should we do about the gays”.
It ain’t just about policy. Just like Nazi policy on “lebenunwürdiges leben” wasn’t just “policy”, Republican policy on LGBT rights isn’t just “policy”. It has an active and ongoing impact on countless people’s lives, mostly negative, because of their shitty bigotry. Republican policy on climate isn’t just “policy”. Their denialism (driven by greed or ignorance, I don’t care which) is running out a ticking clock on solving one of the greatest existential crises our species has had to deal with in the entirety of the holocene.
Maybe none of that is as important to you as, say, providing for one’s family or being a good neighbor. But let’s be clear here - if we’re willing to overlook shit like that, we have to dig pretty fucking deep before we hit something we’re not going to overlook.
Here are some of the principles I feel the Republican party used to embrace (back when I was a Republican):
Fiscal responsibility: You pay for the amount of government you have. You don’t finance programs on borrowed money. You either collect the money via taxes or you shut down the program. (There can be exceptions during major emergencies like wars or depressions.)
National security: You defend the United States, its allies, and its national interests. And you choose allies and national interests with care. You fight necessary wars and support necessary military spending. You avoid unnecessary wars and unnecessary military spending.
Limited government: Let people live their own lives. Don’t tell people how to live, what to consume, or who to have sex with. People should be able to make their own decisions about their own lives. The government should also regulate business to support the free market and prevent bad business practices. And the government should provide some social services and infrastructure.
Rationality: You need to deal with the world the way it is. That doesn’t mean that you can’t work for changes; progress is important. But you have to base your policies on what is real.
I stopped being a Republican because I feel the party has moved away from these principles in the last few decades.
Note my use of the qualifier “to an extent”. Obviously, some policies are inherently evil.
As in “good Germans”?
"in which ways can a Republican be a “good” Republican"
@ OP — when you write “good Republican” do you actually mean “rational centrist”? if so, the answer is simple: Join the Democratic Party and use your power in primaries to push back on what you believe to be liberal excesses. At this point, destruction of the Republican Party is the best way forward. Perhaps the Democratic Party will then fissure into two rational parties as it did in the 1820s. (By “rational centrist” I mean what was labeled in the 20th century by a now-obsolete meaning of the word “conservative.”)
If “being a good Republican” means “becoming a Democrat”, that would defeat the purpose of the thread, which is why I asked about good Republicanism in a way that is still distinct and different than Democratism.
I think **Little Nemo **nailed it. There are many good conservative principles such as low taxes, fiscal restraint, limited government, personal responsibility, family values, morality, sticking to the Constitution, strong but wise national defense, etc. that have simply been derailed or overshadowed in today’s GOP. Conservatism isn’t bad - in fact, it’s quite inherently good - it’s just been hijacked.