The readers of this blog may be surprised to hear that I am a registered Independent, not a Democrat, and that I have even voted for GOP candidates for President in the past. I sometimes marvel that I have moved to the left as I have grown older, but the truth is that I haven’t; it is the Republican Party that has moved away from the center.
What would the GOP have to do to make me take them seriously? Here is a list:
- Stop engaging in class warfare on behalf of rich people, and pretending that tax cuts are the solution to all economic problems.
- Stop pandering to racists and bigots.
- Stop accepting faith-based “facts” in lieu of the consensus of the scientific community.
- Stop engaging in nihilistic tactics to bring the government to its knees.
- Stop turning an imaginary version of Ronald Reagan into a demi-god.
- Stop insisting that American military power is capable of solving all of the world’s problems.
- Stop attempting to recreate an idealized version of America in the 1950’s, or the 1920’s, or whatever, through legislation.
Is that too much to ask? Probably.
The fact is, Republicans were not always like this. I will be discussing their movement to the right, and what it would take to reverse it, in subsequent posts.