Republican Accountability Project

Everything Old is New Again

Don't throw the pa-ast away

You might need it some rainy day

Dreams can come true again

When everything old is new again

Forward into the past!

In the late 19th century there was a  battle for the soul of the Republican party between the  traditionalists and the Mugwumps.  The traditionalists believed that political power should be exercised for personal gain.  The Mugwumps were those Republicans who believed that  using political power for personal gain was corruption. Mark Twain was on the side of the Mugwumps.

"I was a mugwump. We, the mugwumps, a little company made up of the unenslaved of both parties, the very best men to be found in the two great parties--that was our idea of it--voted sixty thousand strong for Mr. Cleveland in New York and elected him. Our principles were high, and very definite. We were not a party; we had no candidates; we had no axes to grind. Our vote laid upon the man we cast it for no obligation of any kind. By our rule we could not ask for office; we could not accept office. When voting, it was our duty to vote for the best man, regardless of his party name. We had no other creed. Vote for the best man--that was creed enough."

- Mark Twain's Autobiography (North American Review, Dec. 21, 1906)

Twain actively campaigned for Republicans until the election of 1884. Twain’s disdain for the Republican nominee in 1884, James G. Blaine, who, despite a reputation for corruption, had “very devoted followers within the party who would not believe any of the charges brought against him,” as  Kay Moser puts it. In protest, Twain and other reform-minded Republicans left the party to form what became known as the Mugwumps. Donald Trump is today's James Blaine.  Plus Ça Change, Plus C'est La Meme Chose.