Citing polls showing GOP positions on trans people and parental rights are popular (he doesn’t discuss abortion or gay marriage), Rich Lowry says Ron DeSantis is wise to lean into the culture wars. He is concerned, however, that DeSantis hasn’t tied his opposition to wokeness to a more general narrative in which Americans are better off. Is he right, for once?
In a limited sense, yes, but he has missed the larger point, which is that the entire GOP doesn’t have an agenda to improve the lives of most Americans. It isn’t just DeSantis. The GOP wants to cut taxes for wealthy businessmen and make the lives of the poor and woke as miserable as possible. That’s it. That’s all they have to offer. For example, they don’t have any plans to increase growth in struggling red states, other than a patently counterproductive proposal to reduce the production and use of clean energy, because Republicans are all about reducing the power of government, except to punish their enemies.
In other words, the GOP’s vision of America is limited to owning the libs. It should be fascinating to hear what the presidential candidates have to say during the debates when they are asked specific questions about their nonexistent policy ideas. It will be the exact opposite of talking to Elizabeth Warren about her innumerable plans.