As I’ve noted many times before, to the GOP, every Republican candidate is the sunny, manly Ronald Reagan, and every Democrat is the weak and inept Jimmy Carter. With that in mind, the midterms look like a feast for the GOP; with inflation raging, problems with Iran, and the Russians invading a neighbor, how much more like 1980 could it be?
The logical question is whether this improbable turn of events could change the GOP back into a Reaganite–not a Trumpist–party, focused less on transgender athletes and cancel culture and more on real issues that impact all Americans. The correct answer to the question, alas, is no. Reactionaries made up a relatively small proportion of Republicans in 1980; today, they run the show, and they really, really care about things like bathroom bills. They aren’t going to give up culture wars just because they have genuine domestic and foreign policy issues to use as sticks against Democrats.