Stuart Stevens joins an increasingly long line of prominent GOP figures who have concluded that the image of a party primarily concerned about low taxes, free trade, and limited government was a fraud. He thinks the party needs to lose big in November to return to its intellectual roots. Rich Lowry, on the other hand, notes that the GOP is beholden to its reactionary supporters, and consequently sees no point in a demolition. Who is right?
Lowry is definitely correct when he notes that a large percentage–maybe even a majority at this point–of GOP voters enthusiastically support Trump’s authoritarian populism, not a freedom-oriented Reagan agenda. That is the problem, not just Trump himself. On the other hand, Lowry doesn’t give adequate weight to the influence that Trump, other GOP leaders, and, above all, Fox News has on reactionary voters. For example, Russia used to be viewed as the enemy; today, Trump says that Putin is a friend, and they believe him. Free trade was always identified as a GOP objective; today, the GOP is largely protectionist, because Trump has decreed that it should be so. The faithful have fallen in line. And so on.
Good, clear solutions to this problem are hard to find, but I don’t see any way the GOP becomes a respectable center-right party unless Fox and the thought leaders of the GOP conclude that authoritarian populism is a dead end, and dramatically change the message they send to the rank and file on a daily basis. The only way that happens is if the GOP loses big in November. My conclusion, therefore, is that Stevens is right. Bring on the blue wave!