When I was quite young, I was a staunch Republican; I refused to step foot in Boulder after I saw a stop sign with graffiti making it read, “STOP BUSH.” In the time since, I’ve come to love Boulder and seen my political persuasions become less partisan. While I am a registered Democrat, I originally was a declared independent. For me, the party itself is less important than the agenda it pushes. Whichever party can present a more appealing platform for me gets my vote. Unfortunately, this year’s election has seen one of the great American political parties fall far from its former glory. I am of course talking about the Republican Party.

I switched my affiliation from Independent to Democrat this year because of how important this election truly is for the United States and the world. Whoever gains the office of the president will represent a historic movement in time. Hillary Clinton will become the first female president in American history and continue the movement started by President Barack Obama, while Donald Trump will succeed in completely gutting what made the Republican Party the “Good Old Party.” Supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have become disillusioned with the Democratic Party because of perceived, and now somewhat confirmed, plots against Sanders, and some have declared “Bernie or Bust.” This election is too important to cave that easily. Refusing to vote or voting for a third party candidate like Jill Stein (Green Party) or Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party) is tantamount to throwing a vote away. To me, that’s a surrender and dangerous to the United States’ two-party democracy.

Since the days of Martin Van Buren, Congress has been dominated by two parties. Today’s Republican Party originated from the ashes of the Whig Party and found its support based in the Northern United States, contending with the Southern-controlled Democratic Party. The party of Abraham Lincoln led the nation through a brutal civil war and to reunification. In the coming years, the ideology of the parties swapped, with the Democrats becoming more left-leaning and the Republicans leaning toward the right. As the United States grew closer to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the basis of support also switched, with Republicans becoming incredibly strong in the South. Many prominent Republican politicians, like Governor George Wallace were staunch opponents of the Civil Rights Movement and came to represent the continued hold of racism and prejudice in the American government.

At the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, House Speaker Paul Ryan claimed that the party was still the same as the party of Lincoln, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Abraham Lincoln made American history when he put out the Emancipation Proclamation. That party stood for the rights of all people. Donald Trump has made the Republican Party the party for uneducated white men. Of course, the Republican Party continues to find support from some women, some intellectuals, and some proportions of ethnic communities, but when their candidate for the highest office in American government is a xenophobic misogynist, that does say a little something about the party as a whole. It’s obvious that many leading Republicans are not too happy with Trump’s position as the nominee. The last two Republican presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, along with the last two nominees, Senator John McCain and Governor Mitt Romney, refused to even attend the Republican National Convention. That in itself says something about the direction of the party when the last people to hold the presidency and run for it do not support the path their party is taking.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz speaks at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio

Just take a look at the differences between how the Republican National Convention went and the Democratic National Convention. One of the opening speakers as the Republican National Convention was a member of the TV show Duck Dynasty. As some speakers talked, the crowd chanted “lock her up,” referring to the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. When Senator Ted Cruz told the crowd to vote their conscious, he was met with an uproar targeted at him, causing the Secret Service to evacuate Heidi Cruz, the senator’s wife, from the Convention. Donald Trump has turned the Republican Party into a platform for the uneducated and intolerant. Again, the majority of Republicans have some degree of education and most are not intolerant, but they have been overshadowed by a disaffected minority. At the Democratic National Convention, many more politicians spoke from the podium, including President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, as well as Former-President Bill Clinton. The Democratic Party of today has the backing of every Democratic executive since Jimmy Carter. Meanwhile, the Republican Party has fallen into disarray and George W. Bush has said he’s worried he’ll be the “last Republican president.”

At the Democratic National Convention, the mother of Trayvon Martin, a young black man killed by George Zimmerman, who has become almost a deity for some Trump supporters, spoke about unity and called for America to overcome the systemic prejudice we find in too many areas of this country. If she had spoken at the Republican National Convention, she would not have been received well. While the Republicans today spend their time defending themselves and making excuses, the Democrats are working to find more people to include and find support with. Democrats are working together to build democracy in this country, while the Republicans can’t even agree on who they should run for the presidency.

Donald Trump walks onstage to accept the Republican nomination for the American presidency

I don’t want to see the GOP continue down this dark path; I want to see it return to its rightful position as an equal-in-purpose with the Democratic Party. I believe that Republican governorships and seats in Congress will drop following the 2016 presidential election, especially if Donald Trump is elected. While I am affiliated with the Democratic Party, too much power in the hands of the Democrats can be a problem for the United States, as is too much power in the hands of the Republicans. The whole idea of America’s government structure is that power is not concentrated in a single person or group, but is shared. As Americans, we need to drop petty disagreements and work together. The Republican National Committee should have expelled Donald Trump from the running in 2015, but now he is the face of a once-great party.

America doesn’t need to be made great again; the Republican Party does.