People say that the Republican Party is dying, and sometimes I can’t help but agree. The Republican Party hasn’t held the presidential office since George W. Bush, and even though they hold the House and Senate, Congress is passing bills left and right that most Republican voters don’t agree with. Millennials have officially passed up the baby boomers as the largest number of registered voters for the upcoming election. The GOP also struggles with an image issue as most young people feel that the party reflects nothing but the views of middle-aged white males. This is all coming in an era where some of my friends have said that Hillary Clinton is too conservative to be running as a Democrat. On top of all of this, you have the Donald Trump factor, but none of these problems are the biggest issue that the Republican Party faces in the upcoming election.

The GOP is struggling because they are not unified. Ask a Democrat if they would vote for the Democratic nominee if their top candidate didn’t get the nomination. I bet nine out of 10 times, the person would say yes. The Democratic Party is unified. While people may have a favorite candidate, they still believe in their party’s message overall, and they would rather vote for their second choice candidate than have the Republican candidate get elected.

This is not the view of the Republican Party. Even within the party, candidates are bashing one another and making it extremely hard to win in the general election for whoever gets the nomination. Furthermore, members of the Republican Party are being petty. The establishment voters are saying that if Jeb Bush or Chris Christie doesn't get the nomination, then they aren’t going to vote. Certain Republicans won’t vote unless Trump gets the nomination. Certain voters won’t vote if he gets the nomination. Others argue the same way with Ted Cruz. Part of the reason why Romney didn’t win in the 2012 election was because a number of Republicans didn’t like him, so they chose to simply not vote.

I’m not advocating for going out and voting for a candidate that you don’t support. I’m also not advocating voting for a candidate simply because they are running under your preferred party. All I’m pointing out is that the Republican Party has a unity issue and if they want to win this election, they need to rally behind whichever candidate gets the nomination, just like the Democrats are going to do. The GOP needs to stop acting like children and throwing temper tantrums whenever they don’t get their way. They need to stand up, fight for what they believe in, and stand behind whoever is going to fight for that cause. Even if the person fighting isn’t their number one pick.

This election is already shaping out to be a tough one. It really is anyone’s game at this point. It’s safe to say that a lot of the candidates who are frontrunners are breaking the norms of past elections. The top candidates right now are a Democratic Socialist and a reality TV star who has never been involved in politics before. The GOP is already fighting an uphill battle, and they don’t need to make it any harder on themselves. So while many would argue that Donald Trump is the biggest problem the GOP faces, I would argue it's a lack of unity.