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The GOP under Trump has considerably changed from the GOP under Bush. There is no longer a political home for Reagan/Bush-style conservatives. Perhaps a shift m

by ttul 1y ago

The GOP under Trump has considerably changed from the GOP under Bush. There is no longer a political home for Reagan/Bush-style conservatives. Perhaps a shift might be coming with the next economic downturn, which seems inevitable given the risk-off investment climate across most industries stemming from Trump’s erratic, unpredictable trade and economic policy. Things don’t look bad just yet, but it takes a while for the full impact of such enormous changes in sentiment to ripple down through the entire economy.

toyg 1y ago
> There is no longer a political home for Reagan/Bush-style conservatives That's funny, considering Bush II effectively established the coalition of business interests, religious zealots, and neofascist militias, which then expanded to be the backbone of Trump's support. Cautionary tale about consequences of one's political choices? I wish.
tomrod 1y ago
Libertarian and Democratic parties ought to feel right at home for any refugees from the GOP who have conservative principles. Democratic party is right of center.
yardie 1y ago
Reagan and Bush were constrained by much more liberal supreme court justices of the previous era. The current Supreme Court justices were clerks and lawyers during Reagan and Bush presidency. If Reagan and Bush had the current justices in their bench I can almost guarantee they’d be pulling the same stunts.
zeroonetwothree 1y ago
Bush wasn’t exactly a steward of free speech
TimorousBestie 1y ago
> There is no longer a political home for Reagan/Bush-style conservatives. There is, they just don’t like it for aesthetic and/or historical reasons. The faction that currently runs the Democratic party is the centrist, deficit-reducing, foreign-intervention-when-necessary party of Reagan/Bush. If the centrists and moderate conservatives could make common cause, they would easily shut out both the far left and far right wings of American politics. The demographics are there. I think the main wedge preventing this unification is still abortion, and to a lesser extent LGBTQ rights. But it’s so weird to see two political factions that agree on 90% of policy get shellacked and overruled by their respective extreme wings. Real tail wagging the dog stuff.
- tyre 1y ago
  > it’s so weird to see two political factions that agree on 90% of policy get shellacked and overruled by their respective extreme wings These parties have primaries and Republicans are choosing—by a majority—the crazies over the “traditional” wing. They aren’t extremists. They are the party views.
  - SoftTalker 1y ago
    Most moderates don’t vote in the primaries. The hardcore extremists vote unfailingly.
  - donatj 1y ago
    Primaries are primarily voted in by crazies. Regular people have lives and jobs.
  - TimorousBestie 1y ago
    > These parties have primaries and Republicans are choosing—by a majority—the crazies over the “traditional” wing. Elections are by and large not contests of policy, and I think it’s likely that most American voters (across the spectrum, not just the GOP) aren’t voting in their own self-interest anymore.
- opo 1y ago
  >The faction that currently runs the Democratic party is the centrist, deficit-reducing, foreign-intervention-when-necessary party of Reagan/Bush. How are you defining "deficit-reducing"? >Over the four years of President Biden’s term – from January 2021 through January 2025 – we estimate that he approved $4.7 trillion in new ten-year debt through legislation and executive actions. https://www.crfb.org/blogs/how-much-did-president-biden-add-debt https://www.crfb.org/blogs/how-much-did-president-biden-add-... That rate of debt increase is neither responsible or sustainable - though such irresponsible behavior has now been adopted by both parties. Both parties seem to have become radicalized and are catering to their worst instincts.
  - TimorousBestie 1y ago
CalChris 1y ago
The Bushes and Reagan were a little more genteel but that's it. Reagan even gave the wink wink nod nod speech about States' Rights at the Neshoba County Fair. The difference between them and Trump is sortorial.

by ttul 1y ago

toyg 1y ago

> There is no longer a political home for Reagan/Bush-style conservatives That's funny, considering Bush II effectively established the coalition of business interests, religious zealots, and neofascist militias, which then expanded to be the backbone of Trump's support. Cautionary tale about consequences of one's political choices? I wish.

tomrod 1y ago

Libertarian and Democratic parties ought to feel right at home for any refugees from the GOP who have conservative principles. Democratic party is right of center.

yardie 1y ago

Reagan and Bush were constrained by much more liberal supreme court justices of the previous era. The current Supreme Court justices were clerks and lawyers during Reagan and Bush presidency. If Reagan and Bush had the current justices in their bench I can almost guarantee they’d be pulling the same stunts.

zeroonetwothree 1y ago

Bush wasn’t exactly a steward of free speech

TimorousBestie 1y ago

> There is no longer a political home for Reagan/Bush-style conservatives. There is, they just don’t like it for aesthetic and/or historical reasons. The faction that currently runs the Democratic party is the centrist, deficit-reducing, foreign-intervention-when-necessary party of Reagan/Bush. If the centrists and moderate conservatives could make common cause, they would easily shut out both the far left and far right wings of American politics. The demographics are there. I think the main wedge preventing this unification is still abortion, and to a lesser extent LGBTQ rights. But it’s so weird to see two political factions that agree on 90% of policy get shellacked and overruled by their respective extreme wings. Real tail wagging the dog stuff.

tyre 1y ago
> it’s so weird to see two political factions that agree on 90% of policy get shellacked and overruled by their respective extreme wings These parties have primaries and Republicans are choosing—by a majority—the crazies over the “traditional” wing. They aren’t extremists. They are the party views.
- SoftTalker 1y ago
  Most moderates don’t vote in the primaries. The hardcore extremists vote unfailingly.
- donatj 1y ago
  Primaries are primarily voted in by crazies. Regular people have lives and jobs.
- TimorousBestie 1y ago
  > These parties have primaries and Republicans are choosing—by a majority—the crazies over the “traditional” wing. Elections are by and large not contests of policy, and I think it’s likely that most American voters (across the spectrum, not just the GOP) aren’t voting in their own self-interest anymore.
opo 1y ago
>The faction that currently runs the Democratic party is the centrist, deficit-reducing, foreign-intervention-when-necessary party of Reagan/Bush. How are you defining "deficit-reducing"? >Over the four years of President Biden’s term – from January 2021 through January 2025 – we estimate that he approved $4.7 trillion in new ten-year debt through legislation and executive actions. https://www.crfb.org/blogs/how-much-did-president-biden-add-debt https://www.crfb.org/blogs/how-much-did-president-biden-add-... That rate of debt increase is neither responsible or sustainable - though such irresponsible behavior has now been adopted by both parties. Both parties seem to have become radicalized and are catering to their worst instincts.
- TimorousBestie 1y ago

CalChris 1y ago

The Bushes and Reagan were a little more genteel but that's it. Reagan even gave the wink wink nod nod speech about States' Rights at the Neshoba County Fair. The difference between them and Trump is sortorial.