Imo Ezra Klein hits the difference in the parties.
"There is a contradiction at the heart of the Republican Party that does not exist at the heart of the Democratic Party. Democrats are united in their belief that the government can, and should, act on behalf of the public. To be on the party’s far left is to believe the government should do much more. To be among its moderates is to believe it should do somewhat more. .....
The modern Republican Party, by contrast, is built upon a loathing of the government. Some of its members want to see the government shrunk and hamstrung.
The former president’s victory made it ruthlessly pragmatic.
www.nytimes.com
I don't think that's debateable. And notice the difference between today's gop and Reagan's. You'd never hear Reagan say "I should set interest rates." He knew better. He certainly used the military to goad Gorby. He was an interventionist. Just saying Trump's a crook misses the point, even if its true. The only VP he could find who bought into the Project 2025 bs was .... Vance. The govt can do nothing. And that's a losing ticket, because even Trump is using the govt to do something, even if it's just enriching those who bend their knee to him.
The POINT of having a govt is to make our lives better. Perhaps we need less of it, but we've seen what happens when Robber Barons get to set interest rates for the rest of us. THAT'S WHAT ACTUALLY BIRTHED THE DEMS WITH ANDREW JACKSON.
I recall Krugman labeling the post-W gop (and Trump's group) as the Party of Rump. That's a pun, but it's also a business term.
a small or unimportant remnant of something originally larger:
"once the profitable enterprises have been sold the unprofitable rump will be left"
I'm not despairing that AOC is my kid's future. I'm hopeful Trump will lose and the gop will rise from W's destruction of the party of Reagan.
