No liberal democratic system can be truly stable and productive without a reasonable, forward-looking, and responsible center-right party. The GOP hasn’t met that standard since, to be generous, 2009; today, many of its leaders can’t even bring themselves to denounce deranged extremists. Can the Democrats do anything to nudge them back to respectability?
Yes, by:
- Winning elections, preferably by large margins, thereby convincing the leadership and the donor class that “no enemies to the right” has a dismal future;
- Governing successfully, and thus proving the GOP theory that only the private sector can get things right is a lie; and
- Prosecuting right-wing extremists who violate the law and threaten the political system to the fullest extent possible. Otherwise, today’s rabble may turn into tomorrow’s IRA or ETA.