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After Trump Loses, We Can Build a Sane Republican Party
This week, as we witness the horrifying spectacle of the GOP crowning Donald
Trump as its presidential nominee, we may find solace by anticipating the
positive change that his ill-fated candidacy might actually bring about.
Ever since Trump secured the nomination, influential leaders and
intellectuals on the right who reject him have been working to reimagine the
right as it should be. Under normal circumstances, envisioning a more
mature version of Republican politics might just be speculative fantasy. But
this unique historical moment provides the American right with an
unprecedented opportunity to redefine itself and reclaim its role as an
effective bulwark against the shortcomings of the left.
Toward this end, last week I was privileged to participate in a small
gathering of influential conservative and libertarian leaders who came
together for three days to imagine a “more evolved” version of right-wing
politics. The group included distinguished author Charles Murray, Republican
gay rights activist Margaret Hoover, and anti-tax icon Grover Norquist.
Also present were prominent libertarians, right-leaning political scientists
, and numerous Republican media personalities. And while we did not reach a
clear consensus on the “future of the right,” we did find remarkable
agreement around the potential for a revitalized center-right coalition that
could offer a viable alternative to unprincipled right-wing populism.
By the end of the three-day meeting, many were optimistic that a fresh kind
of conservative and libertarian politics will rise from the ashes of Trump’
s impending loss. The group was excited by the possibility of a new American
right that could be “radically innovative and radically inclusive.” We
agreed that a key strength of the right is found in its championing of
entrepreneurial innovation and the values of personal and economic liberty.
And this same spirit of creative innovation can be used to craft positive
proposals for market-based healthcare reform and a meritocratic immigration
policy.
Despite polls that show large-scale Republican support for Trump, after
Hillary Clinton’s likely victory, conservatives will come to realize that
they need a more moral (while simultaneously less moralistic) form of
Republican politics. This post-Trump soul-searching can accordingly lead to
a new coalition of business people, libertarians, progressive conservatives,
and even market-friendly Democrats who are worried about the left’s move
toward Sanders-style socialism and its intensifying identity politics.
By freeing itself from the backward-looking concerns of nativists, Tea
Partiers, and some religious conservatives, this emerging center-right
coalition could embrace political issues currently owned by the left—issues
such as income inequality, environmentally friendly energy policy,
immigration reform, and even a conservative plan for affordable health care.
By advancing solutions to these issues that are primarily market-based, and
thus more acceptable to conservative and libertarian sensibilities, this
center-right political alliance could make progress in areas that are
currently stymied by hyper-partisan polarization.
Moreover, by working to restate the platform of the American right to make
it more socially liberal, even while it remains fiscally conservative, this
emerging center-right coalition could also attract a politically significant
number of millennial voters who would help make up for the loss of social
conservatives in the Republican base. While this culturally updated center-
right platform may not gain the assent of an electoral majority in the near
term, most of the meeting’s participants were willing to admit that the
demands of responsible leadership now require a more long-term view.
While we did not reach consensus on every issue, our group did agree that
this historical moment calls for a bold vision of the future of conservative
and libertarian politics—an innovative platform that can effectively
integrate and use values and solutions from across the political spectrum,
even while continuing to stand for the essential values of liberty and
heritage that are the right’s enduring strengths.
Rather than lamenting Trump, after three days’ rigorous discussion and
friendly camaraderie, many of us came to appreciate the upside of the “
creative destruction” he is wreaking on the Republican Party. By providing
an opening for reform, Trump’s anticipated loss in November can help bring
about a new version of the right that can continue to champion the power of
free markets, while simultaneously welcoming immigrants, displaced workers,
environmentalists, and ethnic and religious minorities.
This emerging center-right coalition could not only reinvigorate the
Republican Party, it could also help save American democracy by overcoming
our crippling polarization. There will always be some version of the right
in American politics, so even liberals have a stake in the right’s positive
evolution. And in the end, whether the right’s next evolutionary step
results in a “New Republican Party” or a distinct third party, what
matters most will be the quality of values it chooses to represent.
Steve McIntosh is president and co-founder of the Institute for Cultural
Evolution think tank (ICE), which focuses on the cultural roots of America’
s problems. He tweets at @InstituteforCE. | C**********a
发帖数: 1472 | 2 Trump is winning.hilary is dying. |
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