Who is Former Governor Bill Weld?

As the race to the presidential nomination rapidly approaches, numerous political figures land in New Hampshire—home of the first nationwide party primary—to pitch their respective candidacies along their hectic campaign trails. The likes of Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden have both recently held campaign rallies in the Granite State, but on October 10, 2019, a relatively unsung candidate came to Dartmouth. That speaker was former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld—an unfamiliar name to anyone that does not follow politics assiduously; Weld has now joined the list of elderly politicians to have conversed with Dartmouth students. As Trump’s main competitor for the Republican presidential nomination, the 74 year-old businessman and attorney currently polls at a mere three percent.

In the misnomered “State of the Union” event, hosted by the Dartmouth College Republicans, Weld delivered a brief policy-centered lecture, followed by a rather lengthy Q&A session. Much to his chagrin, Filene Auditorium, which housed the event, was roughly only one-fifth full—perhaps a generous estimate, even. Thus, the masses could not enjoy his deliberate wardrobe choice—Weld sported an emerald green tie for the occasion, showing that he was, in fact, aware that our school color is green. Thank you, Bill—very cool!

Weld’s message prioritized his central policy platform: climate change. Campaigning under a Republican Party affiliation, this tends to be a fairly atypical approach. With the party’s stark divide on the issue, especially between older and younger Republicans, it seems quite counterintuitive for him to declare addressing this issue as his predominant campaign platform. Weld expressed that he believes climate change is an “existential threat.” If atmospheric temperatures continue to rise, the polar ice caps will melt, ultimately resulting in possible catastrophic consequences, he said, albeit omitting the left’s apocalyptic rhetoric that the world will end in just twelve years.

Weld claims that there is a simple solution, which he referred to as an “arithmetic assignment for the nations of the world.” According to Weld, countries need to convene and commit to limiting carbon emissions in order to prevent the temperature increase from exceeding 1.5°C—the disaster threshold. The former governor said that he would rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, all the while criticizing Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement. Weld’s priority in office would be to enact a price on carbon, which he distinguished from a carbon tax. Under his proposal, carbon emissions would be priced by ton, generating a few hundred billion dollars annually. However, this would be a revenue neutral transaction for the government, as the money raised would be funneled back to taxpayers. Weld suggested that more relief would be given to lower income households in order to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans. He also recommended that developed nations should buy out the sovereign debt of less developed nations, under the precondition that they maintain their rainforests.

Weld’s talk only lasted about fifteen minutes before he opened up the event to a Q&A. Among the audience were reporters for various news publications including The Dartmouth Review and the subordinate school paper. Accordingly, a member of the audience asked the former governor about his views regarding Trump’s attack on the press and, by extent, the freedom of the press. Recounting Trump’s claim that the media is the enemy of the people, Weld expounded upon his love for the press and its prominent role in holding the government accountable. It was evident that Weld is very fond of the media in more ways than one, as even his wife is a journalist. Throughout Trump’s campaign, the sitting president has assailed liberal news publications deeming them “fake news.” Whether or not there is verity to such statements is a whole other issue. Nonetheless, it is clear that certain publications do pollute streams of information—namely, The Dartmouth.

In the rest of his answers, Weld discussed other topics like the Green New Deal, gun rights, religion, China, immigration, and impeachment. Weld believes that the Green New Deal is fine in terms of renewable energies, but he is a strong proponent that nuclear power should be part of the equation, as well. Additionally, nuclear plants would increase the number of jobs in the workforce. Weld stated that in the first draft of the deal, nuclear energy was included, but Congresswoman Alexandria Occasio-Cortez was persuaded to dismiss it because the method generates nuclear waste. Weld countered this, however, saying that the new generation of nuclear plants are complete-cycle plants that consume their own waste, nullifying the problem. Like many other Republicans, Weld believes that there was still a glaring issue within the Green New Deal: a provision that guarantees basic income to the people irrespective of whether they are willing to work. Weld stated that this would never work in the United States.

Regarding gun rights, Weld supports the Second Amendment, saying that “guns are a bulwark for government overreaching.” He said throughout history, when a government makes it impossible for citizens to own guns, it often follows that its citizens will get slaughtered. Weld, however, supports Red Flag laws—gun control laws that allow individuals to petition a judge to temporarily confiscate a person’s firearm if there is reasonable suspicion that the person would cause harm.

When asked what religion he practiced, he said that he was “very tolerant” and “will not force views on anyone else.” In this sense, he claimed that he is not a movement conservative, who tend to want to push their own issues like abortion on others. Weld however, did emphasize that he is a fiscal conservative, but he is open to every group on the social side. This is unsurprising, as Weld is very libertarian—he was even the running mate to Gary Johnson, the 2016 Libertarian Presidential Nominee.

Overall, Weld is a strong supporter of amicable Chinese foreign policy and claims that the aspirations of both the U.S. and China have one thousand things in common.

For a candidate that previously described Trump’s immigration deportation policies as analogous to those of Nazi Germany’s, Weld’s stances on immigration at the lecture were far more moderate. When asked about Trump’s plan to build a wall, he told that the initiative was perhaps not as bad as liberals make it seem to be. Seeking to draw parallels between the two parties, Weld told that parts of the wall already existed and that Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, had voted for their erection. Acknowledging the economic potential inherent in permitting more immigrants to work in the country, Bill Weld advocated for more work visas that would resemble Canada’s guest worker policy. Weld believes that immigrants do not truly wish to stay in the United States, but rather to work there intermittently in order to send remittances to their true homes. In an effort to undermine Trump’s broad base of supporters, Weld denounced Trump’s political efforts to fabricate ‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’ narratives with the aim of inducing nativist sentiments. Accordingly, he rejected the idea of a border crisis and deemed it an adulterated account of the truth as well as a nefarious political tool utilized by the Trump administration.

Congruent with his disillusionment with Trump’s actions regarding immigration, Weld told that there were reasonable grounds for Trump’s impeachment. Having worked with the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate impeachment, Weld explained impeachable offenses to the audience. He believes that the obstruction of the Mueller investigation is in itself enough for Trump’s impeachment. More pertinent given the recent impeachment inquiry regarding Trump’s demand for Joe Biden’s son to be investigated in an effort to undermine Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, Weld told that Trump had abused his presidential power further justifying reasons for impeachment. Weld predicts that if Republican Senators defend Trump and vote not to remove him in the Senate against popular and majoritarian demand, the Senate will become Democratic, thus, applying additional pressure on those Senators. In short, Weld supports the impeachment of Donald Trump and is apprehensive about the Senate turning blue. This is not surprising given that Trump’s impeachment would in turn make him the Republican nominee. Clever, Bill, very clever.

To the students who took a break from their hefty midterm schedules to come listen to Weld expound on his overall policy stances, his political leanings are very clear—the former governor is a fiscal conservative, a strong libertarian, a moderate Republican, and a tree-hugger.

Listening to Weld speak was both hopeful and refreshing. Although many Republicans will discount him altogether and call him delirious for supporting environmental initiatives, he is a good sign that there are credible alternatives for the GOP after the Trump presidency. Many conservatives have fallen into the trap of defending Trump no matter what—this is harmful and undermines the movement as a whole. Sometimes, it even seems like the ‘Trump Party’, alienating many moderate Republicans and political centrists. Whether or not a president has done formidable things for the country, we should still be able to criticize our own party and our own leadership when it is warranted, for this is how we strengthen and legitimize conservatism. The truth is, none of us truly have it all figured out. Whether you oppose Trump’s policies or support them, despise his character or worship it, it is important that we have intellectual diversity and cross-examination, even within the confines of our own party. Weld’s non traditional approach proves that there are still members of the Republican Party that are willing to deviate from the rigid party platform on specific issues. This bipartisan fluidity is something that big name candidates need to practice more often in this age of dire political polarization. With a broader range of policies and values, on both the left and the right, politics will seem less hostile as a whole, and those lost in the ideological middle-ground will finally have candidates to confide in. It is a shame that the right wing media overlooks Weld and the left wing media only uses him as a puppet to push Trump’s impeachment, because his candidacy and outlook both have so much more to offer. It looks like Weld will continue to swim in irrelevancy throughout the rest of the 2020 presidential race. Maybe next time, Bill.