I’m going to say this plainly, because whispering hasn’t worked.
For the last year and a half, the South Carolina Legislature has struggled to produce much that most citizens would call truly worthy. Not serious structural reform. Not long-range solutions. Not the kind of steady policy work that improves a state.
Instead, we have watched delay, division, and distraction. And every time someone asks why, we hear the same explanation:
“It’s the Freedom Caucus.”
“It’s the Democrats.”
Now let’s slow that down.
Democrats do not have the numbers to stop legislation in a Republican supermajority. They do not have the votes to block bills at will. They do not control committees. They cannot muscle something through or shut something down on their own. So we can stop pretending that is the reason.
If Republicans hold a supermajority and things are stalled, then the issue is not the minority. It is inside the majority. That is not opinion. That is arithmetic.
Let’s Define the Republican Party
Before we talk about what it has become, we need to remember what it was. The Republican Party stood for:
- Rule of law
- Respect for institutions
- Fiscal discipline
- Strong national defense
- Free enterprise
- Personal responsibility
- Limited but effective government
Republicans once believed governing was serious work. It required discipline. It required understanding process. It required sitting through long committee meetings, counting votes carefully, and getting bills across the finish line.
It was not about who could make the sharpest soundbite.
It was about who could actually pass conservative policy.
About the “Freedom Caucus”
If you are elected as a Republican, run as a Republican, and vote as a Republican, then you are part of the Republican majority. You are not the opposition. You cannot hold majority power and then act as though you are fighting against it.
When internal factions spend more time fighting one another than advancing policy, paralysis follows. And paralysis inside a supermajority is not caused by the minority.
It is caused by division within the majority. You cannot claim the authority of leadership while rejecting the responsibility of governing. That simply does not hold up.
What Real Republicans Look Like
A real Republican:
- Understands legislative process
- Respects committee structure
- Protects business stability
- Balances budgets responsibly
- Defends conservative principles without tearing down institutions
- Knows when to stand firm and when to negotiate
Order is a conservative value. Stability is a conservative value. Institutional respect is a conservative value.
Chaos is not. Performative obstruction is not. Constant internal warfare is not.
Here Is What Must Be Said
You do not always have to agree with your party. You do not have to surrender your convictions. You do not have to fall in line blindly. But you do have to listen. You do have to sit at the table. You do have to use common sense.
Compromise is not betrayal. It is how a constitutional republic functions. It is how a legislature operates. It is how serious adults govern. If you cannot listen, cannot reason, and cannot distinguish between principle and performance, then you are not leading. You are grandstanding.
Conservatism is not stubbornness for applause. It is measured judgment. It is steady leadership. It is knowing when holding firm strengthens the state and when refusing to budge weakens it.
For years, common sense was the quiet engine of the South Carolina Legislature. It did not shout. It did not trend. But it moved policy forward. Now we seem to confuse volume with strength. They are not the same thing.
So What Is the Republican Party Now?
That is the question voters are asking.
Is it still a constitutional governing party focused on results, or is it a collection of factions competing to define who is pure enough?
You cannot govern a state while constantly fighting your own side. You cannot blame the minority when you hold the majority. And you cannot call yourselves leaders if you refuse to lead together.
South Carolina deserves steady governance. The Republican Party can either remember what built it or continue splintering into louder and smaller pieces. But one thing is certain: If you have the votes and nothing is getting done, the problem is not outside the room. It is inside.
And the people of South Carolina are watching.
WHILE I BREATHE 