Never Trump Republican's midterm plea to Democrats: Reach out to people like me Democrats need to put party before country by moving to the center. If they go far left, unhappy Republicans will stay home or stick with Trump's GOP.

Cheri Jacobus | Opinion columnist

Americans are desperate for adult leadership in Washington. That is not Donald Trump. That is not the current Republican Party. There is only one option remaining, and the Democratic Party appears poised for a congressional “blue wave” victory in November.

But if Democrats are giddy with the belief that current favorable poll numbers and white hot intensity are because a large swath of voters suddenly changed their basic molecular and ideological structure, let me rain on their parade.

If the far left of the Democratic Party uses the current climate to push a far left message, it’s a sign to moderates, independents, Never-Trump GOP and former GOP that the Democratic Party is not in “adult mode” either. The party then runs the risk of courting rejection by these voters, who will instead stay home on election day, or worse, hold their noses with one hand while checking the box for Trump’s congressional Republicans with the other.

Merely being the lesser of two evils is weak sauce for a nation in agony.

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Democrats need to put country before party and reach out in meaningful ways to these voters. Much like Ronald Reagan’s successful outreach to what became known as “Reagan Democrats,” those alienated working class Democrats attracted to Reagan’s style and economic agenda of lower taxes and less government, Democrats have a similar opportunity. Reagan winning over those disenfranchised Democrats paid dividends to the GOP for nearly a generation. A Democratic Party recalibrated to reflect today's new realities could pay dividends for decades.

If you build it, they will come.

Simply swinging the pendulum from left to right and right to left, creating further ongoing chaos, is short-term gain at the expense of long-term governance. The results of efforts when in power will be lucky to survive as long as Obamacare.

Adult leadership would focus on tackling a budget deficit that is now predicted to exceed $1 trillion every year for decades with responsible spending by first and foremost zeroing in on budgetary and government waste and fraud in a meaningful way. Americans expect this and are angry Washington doesn’t do this annually by default. Be the grown up party and do it.

It’s almost a given that this will result in an easier road to gaining bi-partisan support for many spending priorities that have previously enjoyed only Democratic support. The reality is, certain tax hikes and meaningful entitlement tweaks will be on the table for any party that expects to govern for more than a term or two.

Attack corruption, even if some of your own get caught in the net. In the era of Trump and the post-Trump era, this will be a marquee issue area for voters of all stripes. It’s a political winner, and more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.

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Approach social issues with a thoughtfulness that has eluded both parties but that most Americans quietly crave. Put the screamers from the extremes of the left and the right in the back of the line.

Embrace the future, not the past. Celebrate those who’ve given their all, and carve out advisory “senior statesmen/women” or respectful “emeritus” roles and titles to benefit from their experience, wisdom and institutional knowledge, but move forward with a new slate of leaders that reflects and acknowledges the new reality and the challenges ahead.

This is what “country before party” means.

In times of crisis, strife, or national tragedy, the citizens and leaders of our nation pull together, eschewing partisanship, putting the country first. We remind ourselves and the world why the first word in our chosen name is “united.”

During such times, presidents typically enjoy a spike in poll approval numbers, as they show leadership and provide assurances that the state of our union is strong. The values we hold dear as Americans will see us through the difficult times and we will prevail. Be it the 9/11 terror attacks, the Challenger space shuttle explosion, or the capture and destruction of Osama bin Laden, we embrace our presidents.

But our national crisis is now the president himself and, through association, Republicans in Congress. The midterm elections should be and will be a referendum on their abdication of checks, balances, honesty and basic decency. They should be and will be a judgment on the void of Republican leadership in the era of Trump and Trumpism.

Cheri Jacobus, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is a Republican consultant and commentator and president of Capitol Strategies PR. Follow her on Twitter: @CheriJacobus.