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Hayes Gahagan of Limestone is a businessman, and a former state senator and U.S. Senate candidate.
I admire boldness. Elon Musk has built rockets, reimagined transportation, and pushed humanity toward Mars — sometimes with little more than vision and grit.
But politics is different. It’s not built for mavericks or martyrs. It’s built for the long, uncomfortable, and often unsatisfying task of preserving liberty in a fallen world. That means working within political structures, not merely disrupting them.
Musk recently announced the creation of his own “America Party,” arguing that both major parties have abandoned reason and responsibility. I understand the impulse. Decades ago, I felt the same way. As a former state legislator, I ran for the U.S. Senate as an independent conservative. I stood on principle at the state level. I lost. Later, Ross Perot lost at the federal level.
I believed the Republican Party had drifted from its founding convictions. But stepping outside the two-party system didn’t reform it. It just silenced my voice. What I learned — the hard way — is that the road to real political influence runs through parties, not around them. That’s not compromise. That’s wisdom.
The representative form of government that defines our republic isn’t perfect, but it’s the best humanity has found. Our Founders, many shaped by the Reformed tradition, didn’t expect utopia. They expected structure: checks, balances, and citizen-based representation.
The two-party system isn’t sacred, but it has become a safeguard. It slows mob passions, encourages national debate, resists tyranny by forcing accountability, and lets the people — through elections — choose again in the next election cycle if they’ve chosen poorly.
That’s the heart of liberty: the unalienable, God-given right not only to choose, but to choose again. It doesn’t come through perfect candidates or flawless platforms. It comes through the enduring right of a self-governing people to deliberate, vote, reform — and repeat from one generation to the next.
Political liberty cannot be engineered like a Tesla or optimized like an algorithm. It’s preserved by ordinary citizens willing to work through flawed institutions, guided by patience, principle, and resolve.
Starting a new party may feel righteous, but it risks fragmenting the very coalition needed to restore what’s been lost. I learned that firsthand. Step outside, and the field is left to those who may care nothing for liberty.
Musk says we need a new party. I say we need renewed courage within the two we have. Don’t divide the disillusioned. Rally them. Don’t walk away from the fight. Reenter it, determined to reform from within.
Across the world, multi-party systems often collapse into gridlock or compromise that dilutes the best outcomes. A two-party system is messy, but decisive. There’s a winner and a loser. A government held accountable. A people empowered to reverse course at the next election.
If we give up the two-party system, we don’t just invite political chaos, we risk losing the clarity, cohesion, and individual rights that underpin our republic.
And that is too high a price to pay — even for a visionary.
