Last Friday I joined reporters from other news outlets where we got online for the latest news conference by Congressman Don Bacon. In an era where virtually every other high-ranking Nebraska Republican official does their best to avoid the media, Don Bacon has consistently been available to answer questions. He’s an old school Republican.

Regardless of what you think of his politics, you have to respect that.

At this press conference I was finally able to ask him a question that has been on my mind for a long time. But before I get to that question and his answer here’s some of what was said beforehand.

He started off the press conference by stating that even though he was retiring from Congress he planned to stay active in politics. He wants to return the Republican part to its previous longtime values.

Congressman Bacon then criticized President Trump’s decision to break off trade negotiations with Canada. The president didn’t like how Ontario used the words of Ronald Reagan to show why tariffs don’t work. Congressman Bacon said that he posted the entire Reagan speech online to give the former president’s comments context, but that overall, he agreed with the point the ad was trying to make.

He then went on to show his concerns about the president bombing ships without congressional approval, importing beef from Argentina, the government shutdown, and other pressing issues of the day.

A reporter asked him about the comments Steve Bannon made where he claimed that Trump would still be president after the 2028 elections.

Congressman Bacon made it very clear that he has no respect for Steve Bannon and by extension that side of the Republican party. Which opened the opportunity for me to ask the question that had been on my mind for some time.

I started by mentioning many of the criticisms he’s had about the current administration. I brought up that the party has abandoned many of the principals it had when he first joined and that he still promotes today. I then asked him the question. Why should anyone be proud to say they were a Republican these days. I made it a point to ask why anyone else should instead of asking him why he was, because I didn’t want to make it personal.

But he did make it personal with his answer. He acknowledged many of the problems he sees in the party. He mentioned that some had asked him why he didn’t switch parties and become a Democrat. But when push comes to shove, the reason he stays loyal to the Republican party appears to boil down to one thing.

The culture wars.

Congressman Bacon said the reason he remained a Republican was a because he believed in its conservative social values.

I can respect his views on things like abortion, gay marriage or transgenderism even if we don’t see eye to eye on many of his societal concerns. But when it comes to these culture war talking points, they really only affect a small number of Americans. Unless it’s you, a family member or a close friend, does a person changing genders, or a woman having an abortion have any real effect on your life? You may personally disagree with it and believe it’s a sin, but it most likely doesn’t affect you.

But the exploding national debt not only affects you but your children and grandchildren. Rising health care costs touch every American. We’ll feel the repercussions of the dismantling of the DOJ and locking the media out of the Pentagon for generations to come. Democracy will end if the attempts to suppress the vote and gerrymander districts to rig elections is successful. The bigger problems facing America are not the societal ones.

And while Congressman Bacon has been vocal about many of these bigger problems, he’ll continue to go along with the party that is causing them because he agrees with the official party views on abortion.

The congressman says that he plans to stay active within the party to work to return it to the values of days gone by. The values it had just a decade ago. The values they’ve abandoned under Donald Trump. Return the party to a time when Republicans in Congress saw themselves as an equal branch of government and not the lap dog of the president.

I wish him all the best with his efforts to make the Republican party Republican again.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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