Disband the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party will schism into progressive and conservative factions soon enough.
Isn’t Mitt Romney considered rather liberal by GOP standards?
(Or at least he was liberal. Recently he’s moved strongly to the right — have his principles really changed, or is he just posturing for the deplorable base?)
Not gonna happen. Republicans crave power more than life itself. They aren’t going to splinter their vote and let Democrats win.
That sums it up in a nutshell.
Anecdotally(yeah, I know), I’ve known lots of people on both the left and the right who hold their nose every four years and vote for the lesser of two evils, and that almost always means the party with which they most often agree.
This is the position I find myself in, except that I think of myself as large “R”, small “l”. I don’t like Donald Trump, and weaseled out by voting for Johnson(L) in 2016. That was easy for me to do since my vote was not going to prevent Trump from winning Texas, and I could feel a sort of false virtue in throwing my vote away. But I’m sure that if I was in Florida or North Carolina, or any other “battleground” state, I would have voted for Trump because I could never forgive myself for potentially helping elect the Democrat.
This becomes even more likely if Dems commit suicide again and nominate someone who is seen as even more objectionable than Trump (envisioning a scenario where all the declared nominees have trouble gaining more than minimal support and/or self-destruct, leaving Hillary to ride to the rescue).
On the other hand based on my extremely limited survey, there are potential Trump voters who’d hold their nose and vote for a Democrat viewed as semi-reasonable, i.e. Biden or possibly Bloomberg.
She’s old as hell though; about 76, I’d guess (she went to the same hs as my dad, although 2 classes ahead).
Seriously though, I think what’s going to happen is that the moderates who used to vote Republican more often than not are going to continue migrating Democrat as they have been, if the GOP persists with Trump and the associated hyper-right nonsense. Basically the Blue Dog Democrats are going to become a lot more prominent as the non-crazy former Republicans migrate toward the Democratic party.
They’ve already told donors that their network won’t be supporting Trump in 2020. That at least leaves their money and support apparatus (like their polling subsidiary) on the table for someone else.
At first thought, this sounds extremely cool!
Probably even necessary given the near 50/50 divide that’s plagued the nation for many years.
People would be a whole lot more inclined to chance a third party vote. Knowing they weren’t just throwing it away and hoping that eventually someone will realize that neither party represents them.
I’m learning that if anything I’m probably most closely libertarian…I think.
Both Democrats and republicans have a few small things to offer. I just can’t go Democrat…too whiny… Too preachy… Too someone pooped their pants so let’s put diapers on everyone. It’s not fair waah waah waah.
On the other hand I really can’t stand hard core pro lifers either.
Nor the let’s make the rich super rich and everyone else slaves policies of republicans.
Nor their racist undertones (concious or otherwise) which then get blown wildy out of proportion by whiny Dems.
In any case it would be a first step toward a practical non completely bi- partisan system.
Have you seen those new Bud Light commercials? The ones with the king who drinks Bud Light and everyone shouts dilly dilly? Except for the one guy who drinks mead and everyone laughs at him?
Those commercials are trying to sell you beer. And they’re doing it by trying to make you afraid. They’re telling you if you don’t drink their beer, everyone is going to laugh at you. They want you to be scared so you’ll go out and buy Bud Light and yell dilly dilly.
The Republicans are doing the same thing. They’re trying to convince you that everyone is laughing at the Democrats. And that if you don’t vote Republican, everyone will laugh at you. They want to make you afraid so you’ll do what they tell you in order to feel safe.
You shouldn’t be a Republican because they tell you you should. And you shouldn’t be a Democrat because I tell you you should. You should decide what you believe and do it because it’s what you think is right.
And if he believes neither? Then which shouldn’t he believe?