I first started writing a conservative opinion column during my days as editor of the Enid News & Eagle in the early 2000s. At the time, my writing came from a traditional conservative perspective, meant to counter what I saw as the excesses of the left in the wake of the Clinton presidency, the disputed 2000 election, the aftermath of 9/11 and the beginning of a less-than-inspired Obama administration.
Back then, the debate was straightforward. The left’s policies leaned toward higher taxes, expanded government spending and heavier regulations. Conservatives pushed back because we believed those policies undermined a strong business environment and eroded personal responsibility.
But slowly, something began to shift on the right. That shift reached a tipping point in 2016 with the rise of Donald Trump, whose presidential candidacy upended the long-standing Republican orthodoxy of limited government, free trade and strong alliances. In its place came a politics built on populist anger, cultural grievance and loyalty tests.
It’s also important to recognize how the Democrats contributed to this shift. Their own brand of delusional culture war politics—often obsessed with identity battles, symbolic gestures and ideological purity tests—alienated working families and drove many into the arms of MAGA. Instead of modeling moderation or solutions-oriented leadership, Democrats too often doubled down on divisiveness, creating fertile ground for Trump to exploit frustration and resentment.
When conservatism abandoned its discipline and principles, it ceased being conservatism. It became reactionary populism—good for assembling rallies and winning a few elections in the short term, perhaps, but corrosive to the intellectual foundation that once made the Republican Party the “steady hand.” It alienated many voters who had trusted the GOP to lead responsibly.
Nearly a decade later, the results are undeniable. What once was conservatism—fiscal discipline, consistency, respect for institutions and real problem-solving—has been hijacked into something else: nationalism, resentment, perpetual outrage. MAGA’s version of “conservatism” attacks education, undermines institutions, distorts our democratic-republic system and spends endless energy chasing phantom enemies.
I don’t write this column for today’s hardliners. I write it for the millions of conservatives who, like me, are heartbroken by what has happened to the Grand Old Party. Some have switched to Independent. Others remain Republicans, unwilling to cross over to the Democrats, but still clinging to the hope that sanity and diplomacy will one day return.
My message to them is clear: MAGA doesn’t own the word “Republican.” Real conservatism means fiscal responsibility, strong communities and solutions that work—not endless culture war theatrics. True conservatives demand accountability, even from their own leaders. Every hour wasted on phantom fights is an hour stolen from solving real problems.
And to Republican women who feel especially abandoned by today’s extremism: you can stand firm in your conservatism without surrendering your voice, your identity, your dignity or your right to expect reasonable health care options. You are not less conservative for rejecting chaos. You are more conservative for standing up for civility, collaboration and common sense.
Here’s the hard truth: if we want the Republican Party to reclaim its credibility, it won’t happen on its own. Non-MAGA Republicans must stop waiting for “common sense” to magically return and start demanding it.
We must challenge the fear, reject the outrage and insist on leadership that solves problems instead of stoking division. If we don’t, the GOP will remain a hollow vessel for anger rather than a home for conservative principles. Those are the messages you will continue to hear from me.
The choice is ours—take the party back, or lose it for good.
Cindy Allen 