Opinion: Loyal Republicans should ask, 'What would Reagan do?'

To decide the right course of action, Christ's followers ask the question, "WWJD," or "What would Jesus do?" Loyal Republicans might ask, "What would Reagan do?" to decide which candidate to support in next Tuesday’s Republican primary for the 8th District Congressional seat in which I’m running against incumbent Warren Davidson.

We all remember President Ronald Reagan’s powerful stand against Soviet oppression in 1987 when he declared at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." I wonder what the 40th president of the United States would think of a congressman like Davidson, who, on a far-right TV network, said there were "grains of truth" in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification of his bloody war against Ukraine.

Davidson agreed with the dictator that there are neo-Nazis in Ukraine, boasted about voting against military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and criticized U.S. sanctions against Russia for "crushing the individual Russian citizens with, you know, clumsy, awkward sanctions."

What would Reagan, whose administration brought about the demise of the Soviet Union, think of the six members of Congress – including Davidson – voting against investigating and preserving evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine? It was a move that led President Trump’s former Chief of Staff of Homeland Security to dub Davidson and his colleagues "Vlad’s Cover-Up Crew." Would Reagan, like so many other reasonably-minded Republicans, fear that Davidson and his fellow extremists were turning the GOP into the POP (Party of Putin)?

In the 1960s, the John Birch Society promoted crackpot conspiracy theories, accusing most of the U.S. government of being under secret Communist control. Reagan, who was running for Governor of California at the time, referred to the group as a "lunatic fringe" and declared that he would not solicit its members’ support.

How would Reagan respond to the 18 members of Congress (again, a group that includes Congressman Davidson) who voted against condemning the conspiracy movement QAnon? This cult – whose followers believe that prominent Democrats harvest abducted babies’ blood to conduct Satanic rituals – has been labeled "a potential domestic terrorism threat" by the FBI.

President Reagan never wavered in his respect for the rule of law. Regrettably, Davidson broke federal law by failing to disclose stock trades involving an electric vehicle manufacturer under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that is overseen by the House Financial Services Committee on which Davidson sits.

On Jan. 6, 2021, a mob that believed the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, attacked the United States Capitol, leading to the deaths of seven people and 140 police officers being injured. Rather than standing up for these brave officers, my opponent sided with the rioters by voting to overturn the election, one that President Trump’s head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security called "the most secure election in U.S. history."

My campaign for Congress is based on Reagan’s principle of protecting democracy from those who would tear it down, both at home and abroad. Like Reagan, I, too, am committed to preserving free and fair elections and upholding the rule of law. As an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor, my duty was to enforce the law as justice demanded; it would have been unthinkable to me to base my decisions on a victim’s or criminal’s political background.

Let’s stand against extremists who threaten our liberties and the freedoms we hold dear. I’m asking for your vote on May 3 to make sure they don’t get the chance.

Phil Heimlich is a former assistant prosecuting attorney, Cincinnati City Council member and Hamilton County commissioner who is running for Congress in the 8th District.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: Loyal Republicans should ask, 'What would Reagan do?'