After spending almost $130 Million and losing the Iowa Caucus as well as the New Hampshire and South Carolina Primaries, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has dropped out of the presidential race. Mr. Bush, even with corporate backing and support from the party establishment, could not overcome the change that is occurring in the Republican Party. The final nail in the coffin of the Party of Reagan is almost hammered in.

The remaining candidates on the Republican dais include: Donald Trump, a four-time bankrupted businessman; Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Canadian-born son of a Cuban immigrant; Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who has the worst attendance record in the United States Senate; Ohio Governor John Kasich, who implemented ObamaCare in his state; and Dr. Ben Carson, who once recalled how he was held up at gunpoint at a Popeye’s restaurant. These are the men who want to be our next President of the United States.

There was once a time when being a Republican was respectable. In the past, when the Republican Party was mentioned in conversation, the names of such time-honored men like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower came to mind. It was Ulysses S. Grant who took over the reigns of reconstruction and implemented the Gold Standard. It was Benjamin Harrison who signed off on the Sherman Antitrust Act. It was Teddy Roosevelt who founded the National Parks system. It was Calvin Coolidge who ran a fiscally responsible government while lowering the National Debt. The FDA and the EPA were created under Republican Presidents (Roosevelt and Nixon respectively). George W. Bush created the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the world’s largest protected area for marine wildlife.

Today, the face of the Republican Party is no longer made of those men, or even of men like Ronald Reagan, who though he tripled the National Debt three times and almost led us to nuclear war, had double the charisma and capability to run the United States than any of these damned fools running for office. It’s no longer made up of men like George W. Bush, who even through all his verbal gaffes and foreign policy mistakes like the Iraq War still has more IQ points than anyone currently running for the Republican Party.

William F. Buckley once said, “I profoundly believe it takes a lot of practice to become a moral slob.” Mr. Trump certainly has had many years of practice, with his three wives, his reality shows, his fact-finding adventures to prove President Obama wasn’t born in Hawaii, and his four bankruptcies.

Barry Goldwater warned against people like Sen. Cruz, who announced his candidacy at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, and Dr. Carson, who literally has a framed painting of him and Jesus together. Goldwater warned against those who believe God chose them to run for office and, therefore, can’t compromise on the issues they spearhead.

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."

Dwight D. Eisenhower reported in his final speech as President that “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Today, we have men running for office like Sen. Rubio and Gov. Kasich, who believe that military spending should rise beyond the $600 Billion or so already allocated for it and that the only way to defeat ISIS through putting our boots on the ground.

Why would you vote for any of these men and consent to them sending your son, or brother, or friend off to die in a war when none of them have ever made such a sacrifice in their own lives? The closest thing to military experience that any of these candidates has is Dr. Carson’s experience as a JROTC cadet.

This is no longer the Republican Party, and it certainly isn’t the Party of Reagan, let alone the Party of Lincoln. This is now the Party of Trump, of pseudo-fascism, and of authoritarianism. The Party as we know it is dead. It’s cadaver riddled with the maggots of bedroom authoritarians, Jesus freaks, and blood-thirsty war mongers. The Party is no longer a place where it’s acceptable to be an intellectual. There’s no room for logical discussions or even moderateness without being labeled a traitor to the party.

With a Trump ticket, or a Cruz ticket, or [INSERT NAME HERE] ticket, how can the Republican Party win? It alienates every possible identity group: from Mexicans to Muslims, to Atheists and Academics, not to mention Women, who make up half of this country! There are only so many Evangelicals, so many militant anti-abortionists, and so many NRA lobbyists and denizens of anti-government paranoia in this country. Their vote will not be enough.

The only way the Republican Party will “make America great again” as Mr. Trump has suggested, is by losing to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

I hope the Republican Party can rest in peace knowing Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower, among others, are rolling in their graves.