It’s hard to overstate just how bereft of ideas the GOP is as a collective whole. In 2020, of course, the party platform was just to support the American Caligula in anything he might decide to do. In 2022, GOP candidates complained about crime and inflation without proposing any plausible ways of dealing with them. We can expect something similar in 2024. Since the party is not really full of morons, what’s going on here?
Two things. First, the party is badly divided on ideological grounds, so talking about ideas threatens party unity, which is viewed as the key to electoral success. You can keep everyone on board by relying on least common denominator issues like CRT and “defund the police.” Second, to the extent that the GOP actually has a program, it is highly unpopular with voters. Mocking climate change, oppressing minorities, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and further reducing taxes on the wealthy is not exactly a winning formula. Why would you talk about something that costs you votes when you can win with swagger, nostalgia, and culture wars?