This reminds me of a very interesting column I read a few weeks ago in the New York Times where two legit conservatives discuss the devolution of the Republican Party from one of ideas to one of just opposing the left. Here's a friend's link so anyone without an NYT subscription can read it. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/opinion/republican-party-future.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqIhkSVUaAibSRdkhrxqAwuLC2KE2gn71JS7QUT9Y0_VQDZWc5l3AI6p_Yt95lxKqeOh8Cp59Dvpj0r0YeEV3VwijppbDkctbfHo49Nn2VztvhNeQDe00tDawNDj8eLkimue0thzaamjgS7WfhSN6XHttp5BvdV-o0H0alOySQqMuhI4Ijbp2DYt6RDwBeCCJo_Hrbh59M9yAZRvfgRIkD6AbAXqA2I7BtM9TNVlaGlnET3lg4G4j6986O9sfPav3LRZIa9MxrcDBgZnNhC523ZXy2Yi-
The reaction to it of my 17 yr old son, who is a centrist who leans heavily republican, was very interesting (I lean Democrat---we need at least two more legit parties):
"i think the radicalized or "anti left" group of the republicans is a reactionary effect of the crazy radical leftists that have been running the democratic party for the past 10 years or so. when the democrats are so terrible like AOC and obama it makes sense that an opposition emerged in republican party in which the only goal is to oppose said democrats. Sure the republican party isnt what it used to be, but the democratic party isnt either and IMO the democrats much worse and caused the problem much more than the republicans. also another thing the values of most Civilian republicans (not government officials) dont complement the extreme republicans but most democrats I know believe the same things as the radical libs like aoc and Ilhan Omar. its really just human nature to use craziness as a response to more craziness. I also believe the golden age of the united states is over, or at least on a break, so again it only makes sense that the golden age of both political parties is over or on a break too"
