An introduction: Palmer Kain is a pragmatic politician and an overseas United States military veteran. He spent three years studying in Israel, specializing in International Affairs and Conflict Resolution. He is currently running for the California State Senate. YoungDiplomats’ David Allouche asked him a few questions about the New Movement he has created among the Republicans, specifically in the state of California.

Kain explained to YoungDiplomats why the Republican Party needs to change and in which domains.

He declared that there is a strong need to reform American Foreign Policy, especially the relationship with Israel.

The new shift in California politics signals a change. A change that the world needs to be aware of. The California Republican Party, while respecting all views of our members has made a choice, to continue to be the party where all are welcome. The Republican Party in California has once again committed to a pragmatic, harmonizing, and focused view towards the ideals of inclusion, civic debate, and solid foreign policy. Gone are the archaic views that have hobbled the Republican Party in the past for minority groups in United States’ electoral politics, gone are the days of being out of step with the nation.

Question 1 – Young Diplomats: Can you tell me more about the International Relations, what do you intend to change, compared to the Old Republican Party, not only concerning immigration to the US but more broadly what do you think should change in the US Foreign Policy?

Palmer Kain’s Response: “From an international relations standpoint, it is imperative that the Republican Party change its course. For decades the Republican National Party has been seen by international and domestic policy people as the party of old white people, who are so deeply conservative that they are out of step with the nation and the world.”

“The one issue that this is most apparent is in relation to the issue of immigration. The same people of our party that have in the past been afraid to touch the issue of immigration, or if they have it has had racist overtones.  Here in California we have continued our decades long work to coalesce with our neighbors from Latin America and other countries, as we are a border state. There is an old saying in American politics, “as goes California, so goes the nation.” This was true in the era of the civil rights movement, the counter culture revolution of the 1960s. But since those heady days California has stagnated. The California Republican Party is the only state party in the nation to have reformed with a centrist viewpoint its party platform.”

“It is now time for the national Republican leadership to remember that Lincoln was not a conservative, he was a pragmatic reformer. President Lincoln once said ” Republicans are for the dollar and the man, but if there is a conflict between the two, the man comes first. In other words, the citizen and their well-being was more important than a profit motive. A far cry from the Republican Party of today.  There is a phenomenon in American domestic politics that needs to be said to introduce my next point.”

“In America there is something called the National Mommy-Daddy Syndrome. If the American people want a strong father figure that will keep them safe, they vote Republican. If the nation needs a mother, and matzo ball soup to feel better about themselves, they vote Democratic. Not since President Franklin Roosevelt can the Democrats point to a national daddy figure president.”

“The foreign policy that we currently have in the United States is one based on ideas, not action. To understand this one must remember the simple difference between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats feel that the way to solve issues is through larger government, Republicans believe in smaller government, with this important difference of letting the people choose how they lead their lives”

“This translates into foreign policy in the following way: Democrats inherently think that because they come from a place where ideas are good enough that world leaders will treat them with peer-to-peer courtesy. Republicans on the other hand are pragmatic, and see the world for what it is, a complex, and sometimes dangerous place. The current course of our foreign policy reminds me of the days of President Woodrow Wilson (the only American president to hold a PhD) and his wish to create the League of Nations, the pre-cursor to the modern United Nations.”

“At a time when the world was embroiled in the First World War, this president, who came from academia, was not able to convince Congress or our overseas allies of turning from war to peace. President Obama is facing the same conundrum. A Congress that is not interested, and a world on the brink of larger chaos, is not the time for ideas, but action.”

“As a private citizen who has lived on three continents I am committed to dialogue, and compromise, but there is a limit to everything. It is my opinion that we need to support our allies, especially Israel, in the Middle East to ensure ISIS does not succeed. We need to support our allies in Ukraine against Russian aggression. Further, we cannot let situations like Benghazi go unanswered, for it leads the enemies of democracy to believe that there will be no consequences to traditional acts of war.”

Question 2 – Young Diplomats: Concerning current US policy, what do you think about the recent Israel-American Relations? How does your new movement consider Israel and the peace process with the Palestinians?

Palmer Kain’s Response: “As a pragmatic Republican coming from a liberal state I am one of a minority that fiercely supports Israel. Our current foreign policy response to Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and related groups has gone from bad to worse. On the part of the PM of Israel, his perceived disruption with US internal politics has not won him many supporters in the United States. On the other hand, President Obama has not been able to get the PM of Israel back to the negotiating table successfully.”

Question 3 – Young Diplomats: What places and what titles do you hold in the CaGOP?

Palmer Kain’s Response: “David, I hold a several titles in the California Republican Party (CRP). I am a delegate with voting authority. I am a member of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee. And also a member of the Platform Drafting Committee, who authored a significant piece of the platform, the Veteran’s affairs section. I am also the Republican candidate for the 17th California state senate district in 2016. ”

Question 4 – Young Diplomats: In a Nutshell, why do you Palmer Kain, think that your movement is better than the old one? What other thoughts would you like to share with our audience?

Palmer Kain’s Response: “The new shift in California politics signals a change. A change that the world needs to be aware of. The California Republican Party while respecting all views of our members has made a choice, to continue to be the party where all are welcome. We in California have once again committed to a pragmatic, harmonizing, and focused view towards our ideals of inclusion, civic debate, and solid foreign policy. Gone are the archaic views that have hobbled our party in the past for minority groups in U.S. electoral politics, gone are the days of being out of step with the nation.”

Here are some of Palmer Kain’s additional thoughts:

Reforming the Republicans Party from Within – TO WIN!

“The Republicans have, for a long time, been a party that did not adapt to the demographical and sociological changes in America. Their positions on immigration and pro-firearms lobby, coupled with a disastrous Cold-War oriented Foreign Policy have always sounded faded.”

“The lack of support among the population has been translated to a double digit loss in the last two presidential elections and a very low score in polls. Indeed, the candidates presented by the Democratic party were far more popular and more ethnically diverse than those of the Republican party, which stick to its old-school policy of old-rich White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) representatives. John McCain and Mitt Romney were bested in the elections and achieved very low poll score among ethnic minorities such as the African–Americans and the Latino communities.”

“Thus, the Republican Party seriously needs a reform.”

“This Reform movement got its start in late 2013, to instigate a deep change in the Party. I am deeply committed to creatinh change from within the Republican Party.”

“Until now the response by Republicans has been largely conservative. Like taking a self-defensive stance. But now we have an all-inclusive platform that embraces the controversial issue of marriage equality, a revised education plan for California public schools (which I helped to create), new stances on the environment, agriculture (we provide the nation with 70% of its produce), and an issue that Republicans have historically resisted; immigration, we changed the immigration plank to be more respectful of the immigrants coming to California legally, while dealing strongly with those seeking to come here without authority.”.

Change in Foreign Policy

“From an international relations standpoint it is imperative that the Republican Party change its course. For decades the Republican National Party has been seen by the international and domestic policy people as the party of old white people, who were, so deeply conservative that they were out of step with the nation and the world.”

Real Immigration Reform

“The one issue that this is most apparent is in relation to the issue of immigration, especially the issues of legal versus illegal immigration! The same people of our party that have in the past been afraid to touch the issue of immigration, or if they have it has had racist overtones. I have chosen to distance myself from the divisive declarations of Donald Trump concerning immigration, especially illegal immigration.”

“Here in California we have continued our decades long work to coalesce with our neighbors from Latin America and other countries, as we are a border state. There is an old saying in American politics, “as goes California, so goes the nation.” This was true in the era of the civil rights movement, the counter culture revolution of the 1960’s; but since those heady days California has stagnated. The California Republican Party is the only state party in the nation to have reformed with a centrist viewpoint its party platform. It is now time for the national Republican leadership to remember that Lincoln was not a conservative, he was a pragmatic reformer. President Lincoln once said “Republicans are for the dollar and the man, but if there is a conflict between the two, the man comes first. In other words, the citizen and their well-being was more important than a profit motive. A far cry from the Republican Party of today.”

The Republican Party’s Strong Relationship with Israel

Concerning the Special American Relationship with Israel, Kain has chosen to advocate for a more pragmatic policy.

“As a Republican coming from a liberal state, I am one of a minority that fiercely supports Israel. Our current foreign policy response to Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and related groups has gone from bad to worse. On the part of the PM of Israel and his perceived disruption with US internal politics has not won him many supporters in the U.S. On the other hand, President Obama has not been able to get the PM of Israel back to the negotiating table successfully. I am also the Republican candidate for the 17th California state senate district in 2016.”

Why is it that Jewish-American voters predominantly support the Democratic party?

“How can a people that have been persecuted down through their history support a political party that not only neglects Israel, the only Hebrew home-state, but that fails to respond to foreign threats not only to wipe Israel and Judaism from existence but are even a very real threat to the United States and the very lives of every American citizen? I fail to see a rational reason.”

“To build the Republican party’s membership and influence, the Republican party, both in California and nationally, must BUILD TRUST! If those of Jewish, Hispanic, or Asian decent, or even legitimate welfare recipients think Republicans don’t trust them they WON’T ELECT Republican candidates! Why empower someone who doesn’t trust them and wants to make changes? People DO NOT LIKE CHANGES! Why else do over 90% of incumbents win? Cycle after cycle? Even after being shown to be ineffective or even corrupt?”

Education – An Opportunity to Create Real Change

“There has long-been a controversy in how to best offer the best educational opportunity to America’s youth. Terms like socioeconomic disadvantage, funding, local versus federal control, discipline and others often get in the way of constructive dialogue. My idea is to take advantage of programs that have been proven to work and expand them; while chopping those which don’t, immediately!”

“I applaud President Obama’s efforts to repeal ‘no child left behind’ and return the decision making back to local control. If politicians in DC and Sacramento could set aside their differences, and quit blaming the other party, we could see some real solutions for the issues Americans face on a daily basis.”