Opinion: What happened to the party of Reagan in Colorado?

Colorado Republicans have suffered another decisive defeat. The response must go beyond familiar complaints about campaign spending, media coverage or changing demographics. Republicans need to examine what has happened to their party — and why voters increasingly doubt its ability to govern.

I write as a Republican who remembers a different tradition. The party of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush was imperfect, but it stood for recognizable principles: constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, economic opportunity, national security and American leadership. Conservatism meant preserving the institutions that made the American experiment possible.

Today, I struggle to recognize that tradition in a party increasingly defined by personal loyalty, grievance and ideological confrontation. Colorado needs a competitive Republican Party. Rebuilding one begins with confronting how far it has drifted.

Reagan championed limited government, individual liberty and military strength. He also understood persuasion, negotiation and compromise. His 1987 agreement with Mikhail Gorbachev eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles, demonstrating that strength and diplomacy could reinforce each other.

Bush brought a different temperament but comparable respect for institutions, alliances and public service. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Bush assembled an international coalition. He understood that allies multiplied American power.

Neither presidency deserves romanticization. Reagan’s record included substantial deficits and the Iran-Contra Affair. Bush broke his no-new-taxes pledge while pursuing deficit reduction. Yet both recognized that governing required responsibility as well as conviction.

Colorado Republicans such as Bill Owens and Hank Brown demonstrated that conservative candidates could win statewide by building broad coalitions. Today’s party too often speaks primarily to its most committed activists while alienating the independent and suburban voters needed for victory.

Changing demographics matter, but they cannot excuse every defeat. Many Coloradans still value fiscal discipline, public safety, effective schools, economic opportunity and competent government. Republicans should ask why those voters increasingly distrust the party offering those promises. Perhaps conservative principles have not lost their appeal. Perhaps the party claiming to represent them has lost credibility.

Donald Trump did not create every Republican difficulty. Distrust of institutions, economic disruption and frustration with political elites preceded him. He also recognized legitimate concerns about border security, manufacturing and government responsiveness. But the movement surrounding him has increasingly made personal allegiance the test of political belonging.

A party historically suspicious of concentrated federal power should scrutinize sweeping presidential authority, especially when exercised by its own president. A party committed to fiscal restraint should challenge deficits under Republican administrations. A party that values national security should recognize alliances as strategic assets. 

Constitutional restraint cannot depend on who occupies the White House. Otherwise, it becomes a campaign slogan rather than a governing principle.

Recovery requires enduring principles applied to current problems.

• Republicans should offer practical answers to the pressures facing American families, grounded in fiscal responsibility, individual opportunity and accountable government.
• Tackle healthcare costs by demanding transparent prices, encouraging competition and rewarding better patient outcomes. 
• Build more housing by removing unnecessary barriers to construction and expanding the supply of homes people can afford.
• Keep the borders closed to unlawful entry while preserving orderly legal immigration. Revamp the asylum system so claims receive prompt, fair decisions, protection reaches those who qualify and rejected claims lead to timely enforcement.
• Transform education through thoughtful use of artificial intelligence to personalize instruction, support teachers and help students master essential skills. Technology should strengthen human judgment and preserve the relationships at the heart of learning.
• Shift more of the tax burden toward capital and less toward wages and labor, while protecting incentives for productive investment. Work should offer a stronger path to economic security.

These priorities should accompany honest budgeting, constitutional restraint, strong national defense, reliable alliances and stewardship of our natural resources. These commitments require Republicans to take their principles seriously — and explain how those principles improve people’s lives.

My military and civilian experience taught me that institutions weaken when people stop challenging assumptions or telling leaders unwelcome truths. Our military oath is to the Constitution. Political leadership should reflect that same hierarchy of obligation.

A Republican who challenges a Republican president over constitutional duty or national security demonstrates integrity. Democrats deserve the same standard. No party should demand unquestioning allegiance.

Colorado also needs meaningful political competition. Democrats should face credible challenges on affordability, education, taxation, public safety and government effectiveness. Republicans cannot provide that accountability while prioritizing ideological combat over practical solutions.

Republican recovery in Colorado will require independent thinking, factual honesty and candidates capable of governing. Compromise can advance principle when it produces workable, durable results. Respecting voters includes recognizing that disagreement does not make them enemies. The answer is not to recreate 1980. Artificial intelligence, China, public debt, energy and today’s institutional challenges require fresh thinking grounded in enduring values.

I do not want Republicans to lose. I want them to deserve to win. Colorado’s voters have delivered another warning. Republicans must decide whether to dismiss it or learn from it.

The question is larger than how to win the next election. It is whether the Republican Party in Colorado can become worthy of governing again.

John L. Barry, Major General, USAF (Ret.), of Aurora, is a former Top Gun fighter pilot, K-12 superintendent and nonprofit CEO whose Flashback Forward book series explore leadership, history, national security, and constitutional governance.

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