There just isn’t any other way to put it: the Republicans got trumped in the November 2018 elections. Trump is the right verb. The President ‘s rhetoric scared many unaffiliated voters who just did not want to confirm a Republican-led Senate despite the worthy candidacy of Robert Flanders or to undermine the chance for the Democrats to take over the House of Representatives to curb the President’s excesses.

Closer to home, the Republican Party, never a powerhouse for many years, nevertheless failed to make a dent in the dominance of the democrats throughout the statewide races, with very few exceptions. It’s quite a statement to acknowledge that the closest the conservative republicans came to any position of power was the return of Democrat Speaker of the House, Nick Mattiello, who is about as “republican” as a democrat can be!

So, what has happened to the party of Lila Sapinsley, Claudine Schneider, Nancy Mayer, John Chafee, Lincoln Almond and Ron Machtley? Something is askew. Despite all the rhetoric about the need for a two-party system to keep everybody honest, Republicans were soundly defeated in all but the “red zone” in the state. I have heard many a wanna-be candidate claim that he/she would not run as a Republican because it is easier to win as a Democrat. To be sure, as per the recent report by the Providence Journal clearly demonstrated , folks registered as democrats far outpace the number of registered republicans. Yes, the unaffiliated are the largest number but I have always considered those folks to lean democrat but who forgive themselves occasionally for voting for a republican who can make a case for election.

So, what precisely makes an independent vote for a Republican? In the old days it used to be a reaction to the hijinks and/or corruption perceived to be the province of those in power. Regrettably, far too many republicans came into office and promptly proved that the democrats don’t have a monopoly on self-dealing. Throw in a good economy and voters just don’t want to change horses thereby giving the dominant party the victory.

Perhaps, most importantly, however, the republicans had no cogent message. Just why should people abandon the status quo? During the major and minor races the republicans (with the exception of Patricia Morgan) seemed to think that they could avoid taking any positions and that the public should vote for them because of the glossy print advertising which they sent out. From the governor’s race down to my hometown no vision was articulated. By the time the statewide republican candidate started to take a stand he and the independent chose to beat up on a caravan of illegal immigrants hundreds of miles away where more than half of them had abandoned coming to the United States after finding jobs in Mexico.

I waited to hear how the republicans would do anything differently given some of the state’ s woes. It is ok to jawbone about UHIP, the cost of schooling of illegal immigrants (already sanctioned as a right by the highest court), or the Division of Motor Vehicles (where things actually got better), but what was the plan of action to solve any problems? Solutions will always speak louder than words! GOP candidates of the future: key in to remedies. Or perish again!

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.