It’s hard to remember this today, but there was a time when the GOP was a moderate pro-business party that supported balanced budgets and civil rights and distrusted foreign military adventures. Richard Nixon started the change by becoming a culture warrior of sorts and talking about “law and order,” but Gerald Ford, his successor, was a mainstream figure, so the evolution was not irreversible at that stage. Then came Reagan, and everything changed.
Reagan brought swagger to the GOP. He aligned himself conspicuously with the religious right, even though he didn’t actually do much for them. His tax cuts were the first attempt to “starve the beast;” in practice, they created huge deficits, but they did, in connection with actions by the Fed, create a boom which resonates in the memories of the public even today.
The GOP that we knew in the two decades prior to 2016 was a caricature version of Reagan which viewed tax cuts for the wealthy as the correct response to all economic conditions. Today, we have a nominee who embodies swagger, mouths the party line on tax and spending cuts, and rejects Reagan’s optimism and belief in free trade. The shining city on the hill has become a pile of rubble. Mr. Sunshine has been replaced by Batman.