Last week former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard went on YouTube to explain why she decided to leave the Democratic Party. More than 44,000 subscribers and a quarter of a million views later, the Tulsi train may have more travelers than anticipated. Within a couple of days, Substack author Sasha Stone had amplified Gabbard's complaints and explained why there will likely be many "Temporary Republicans" joining Tulsi at the polls this November. Unfortunately for the Dems, her theory makes a ton of sense.
Stone, who identifies as a Democrat, not only lauded Gabbard's gutsy move but also provided ample rationale for others to cross over and vote Republican. Aligning Gabbard with historical political figures, Stone posited, "What did Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill all have in common? They could see the threat and had the courage to confront it." Stone asserted that Gabbard "also dares to lead a movement to help take them [Democrats] out of power. And they must be taken out of power until they can get a grip and restore some sanity to the party and the country."
The Tulsi Gabbard Movement
Both the Substack author and Gabbard have been closely watching the words and actions of "an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism," as Gabbard so aptly put it. These politically astute women have been listening to the rhetoric of those on the woke left, taken note of their strong-arm tactics to censor and censure those with whom they disagree, and are fed up with the party's obsession over former President Donald Trump.
Who are these Temporary Republicans that Tulsi dares to lead? They are true-blue Democrats fed up with the excessive need of the party elite to control everyone and everything. They are pro-choice and pro-environment but unwilling to surrender themselves and their families to the angry woke mob.
Tulsi Gabbard (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Stone provided an example of this growing movement with a tweet written by Madame Kempe: "I'm a pro-choice suburban mom. Long-time blue voter. This November, I'm voting Republican straight down the ticket. The Democrats who locked up my kids can go f--- themselves." A comment by John Haladay on Gabbard's YouTube read, "As a black American, I left this party a long time ago. It became quite clear that I was considered to be a pawn on a chessboard, as opposed to a living, breathing individual who only wants to work hard, live in peace, and succeed." TC Villa chimed in, "As a Latino I struggled with that. My whole family on both sides vote Dem because we [are] SUPPOSED to. I started to question why and how do they truly help us. I was immediately shut down. I said I'm sorry but Univision and Azteca DO NOT tell me who I am supposed to vote for."
The demographics of those who have had enough of the cancel culture, the woke mindset, and the need to silence everyone with an opposing opinion might be the most shocking part of this exodus – they are black, Hispanic, and female. This sounds an awful lot like those who traditionally made up the core of the Democratic Party, and when a party has trouble with its base, it has a real problem. As Stone wrote, "For us Temporary Republicans, we have run out of options. There aren't many alternatives in a two-party system like ours. We're stuck until we can find a way to have more than just two parties. We must throw our weight behind the best bet to take the Democrats out of power."
So the Tulsi train and the Temporary Republicans – whatever you want to call them – are amassing a new voting bloc. Gabbard and Stone provide these disgusted Democrats confirmation that they are not hanging out there alone, psychological permission that it's okay to cross over the political aisle, and the freedom to vote their conscience.
