Two weeks ago, after a press conference in which he announced funding for several transportation projects in Prince George’s County, Gov. Larry Hogan finally answered the question that all Republican leaders across the country are being asked: “Will you support Donald Trump?”
In typical Hogan fashion, there was no mincing of words or flourishing rhetoric.
“No, I don’t plan to,” Hogan replied when a journalist asked whether he would vote for Trump.
After months of persistent questioning from the media and attacks by Maryland Democrats seeking to tie Hogan to Trump (see Rep. John Delaney, whose gubernatorial ambitions could only be more evident if he wrote them on his forehead), the governor made the choice that I and many other Maryland Republicans had hoped he would make. People on both sides of the aisle should applaud his decision.
Hogan didn’t give much insight to the reasons behind his decision, and I won’t try to speculate what his true motivations are. In my opinion, however, it’s clear why Hogan doesn’t support Trump: he’s everything that Trump is not. These two men couldn’t be more different.
Hogan’s chances of becoming Maryland’s second Republican governor in nearly fifty years after he began his campaign two and a half years ago seemed slim, and are comparable to Trump’s chances of winning this November’s election.
But in his campaign and the subsequent first year-and-a-half of his term, Hogan has showed the power of a pragmatic approach to governing. He has identified the issues that concern Marylanders the most, mainly the lackluster economic growth and employment opportunities stemming from the policies of former Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration. In taking on this issue, along with tackling drug abuse, infrastructure development, state government customer service and taxes, he has offered realistic solutions to shared problems. His work across the aisle, while born out of necessity, has helped improve the lives of Marylanders.
In facing a cancer diagnosis, Hogan became a powerful advocate for cancer patients and survivors. His public battle against the disease, during which he was both graceful and humorous, earned him the respect and admiration of people on both sides of the aisle.
Through improbable odds and great struggles, Hogan has become an incredibly popular and effective governor without name calling, demagoguery or bullying.
Trump is the complete opposite. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and without any real obstacles to climb, he has ridden his privilege and ego to the top of the Republican Party. He insults, divides and inflames seemingly just because he can. He has shown no interest in working across the aisle, or even within his own party, to offer real solutions to the problems that Americans are facing.
Hogan has shown real leadership with his decision. For Democrats, it might seem like a no-brainer to denounce Trump, but it’s a lot harder for Republicans. It’s difficult to tell a group of people you identify with that they made a decision you disagree with, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow that the party that you thought stood for conservative values is being taken over by a big-government populist demagogue. It’s even more difficult as a GOP leader to buck your party (Paul Ryan looks like he’s being asked to eat worms every time he has to defend or excuse Trump’s actions). It’s hard to tell a significant portion of your party electorate in the state that you don’t support their choices, especially after they helped to elect you. But leadership is a hard thing sometimes.
All of the Republican politicians who have endorsed Trump, however uneasily, will have to live with the permanent stain on their legacy that their candidate continues to create with every passing day. Hogan will not be one of them, and in doing so, he highlights just how different he is from Trump. In picking principle over party, the governor has shown that he is the kind of leader that our country needs more of, and one our state should be grateful to have.
Sam Wallace is a public policy graduate student. He can be reached at samhwallace@gmail.com.
