I am a former democrat, now planning to vote Republican and hoping that the GOP can change as much as the dems have changed. I see profound differences between the parties - and their faithful. The democrats believe in big government, in private-public partnerships, in social engineering, and ( this is new) in war. The republicans have some small government genes n their DNA, and they also have "isolationism" in their history, America first, no foreign wars.
The covid pandemic destroyed my belief in big government once and for all. It was clearly a nasty flu, but did not merit an worldwide authoritarian freak out. I do not want the government overseeing what germs I breathe , and forcing me, my pregnant daughter and my grandchildren to get untested mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccines ( that don't work). To add insult to injurty, alleged killer virus turns out to have most likely been cooked up by government funded program!
Our rights were trampled, we were lied to by the media, and no one ever apologized for lies and mistakes. Ventilators? 98% effective vaccines? Prominent scientists ( Bhattacharya of Stanford, Kulldorf etc) were censored when they questioned lockdowns. Lives were destroyed. Underprivileged children were stuck in lonely apartments with no school for TWO YEARS in some liberal cities. I will never forget and never forgive.
I am voting Republican. I love RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard (now with Trump). I am delighted that the two evil Cheneys have joined the democrats and left the GOP. I see a lot of substantive policy differences between the two parties. I hope the republicans can continue to shift towards more populism ( why is that a bad word). I hope to see Republican environmentalism develop that is not all about climate change and big government plans remake the economy. How about just getting chemicals out of the food and water for a start?
Yes and no, Ruy. The Washington/Jefferson battles supposedly were just a culture war, but they reflected deep and critically important differences in how the culture shaped the policies. Imagine for a moment if Jefferson had won in 1796 and committed us as an ally to France. The U.S. probably would not exist. It took us another 16 years to get to the point we could repel another British invasion. Or take the formation of the Democrat Party by Martin Van Buren in 1826---ostensibly to elect Andrew Jackson, but the real goal was to protect and preserve slavery to as to prevent a civil war. It turns out from 1828 t0 1860, every single policy was a part of that "culture war" over slavery. You couldn't even send MAIL to the South if it opposed abortion . . . er, . . . slavery. No discussion in Congress was allowed that dealt with slavery.
Throughout our history culture wars are actually shorthand for real policies that dramatically shape the direction of the country. America First implies a dozen specific policies OF the culture that are inescapable: either we protect, defend, and prosper America first, or we drift into obsolescence and probably civil war or division. As a historian, I think this is the clear message of history. We defeated that impulse brought by the Democrats in 1860. Can we do it again? To be seen.
The strangest thing about this election is how the subtext is culture war, as you say - a war between a newer conception of America where the government exists to "help the little guy" and help people avoid personal problems, and a more traditional conception of America where the government exists to be a referee that is generally hands-off when it comes to people handling their own affairs, with some exceptions for the elderly and those who can't care for themselves. Republicans still talk like they're going to roll back the New Deal (while somehow simultaneously protecting the most expensive programs that came out of it) and Democrats talk like it's Great Society time all the time.
While there are real policy differences, it's more about who's getting handouts than whether or not there should be handouts. That is a pretty stark change in a mere 20-ish years. This is getting very bread and circus-y, and it does not bode well for our nation's ability to maintain any sort of fiscal sanity.
I read the surveys and polling differently. I'd say people have somewhat separated into parties over issues. It's not only that we have different opinions on issues, but that different issues are important to us. For many Republicans abortion is not so important nor is climate. For many Democrats jobs lost due to illegal immigration and offshore manufacturing isn't important.
Both parties are also changing. Democrats are losing the working class, and Republicans are becoming the party of the working class. Democrats still support many social welfare programs because they always have, likewise Republicans still support reducing taxes on the wealthy because they always have. The new parties are uncomfortable in their own skins.
I am a former democrat, now planning to vote Republican and hoping that the GOP can change as much as the dems have changed. I see profound differences between the parties - and their faithful. The democrats believe in big government, in private-public partnerships, in social engineering, and ( this is new) in war. The republicans have some small government genes n their DNA, and they also have "isolationism" in their history, America first, no foreign wars.
The covid pandemic destroyed my belief in big government once and for all. It was clearly a nasty flu, but did not merit an worldwide authoritarian freak out. I do not want the government overseeing what germs I breathe , and forcing me, my pregnant daughter and my grandchildren to get untested mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccines ( that don't work). To add insult to injurty, alleged killer virus turns out to have most likely been cooked up by government funded program!
Our rights were trampled, we were lied to by the media, and no one ever apologized for lies and mistakes. Ventilators? 98% effective vaccines? Prominent scientists ( Bhattacharya of Stanford, Kulldorf etc) were censored when they questioned lockdowns. Lives were destroyed. Underprivileged children were stuck in lonely apartments with no school for TWO YEARS in some liberal cities. I will never forget and never forgive.
I am voting Republican. I love RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard (now with Trump). I am delighted that the two evil Cheneys have joined the democrats and left the GOP. I see a lot of substantive policy differences between the two parties. I hope the republicans can continue to shift towards more populism ( why is that a bad word). I hope to see Republican environmentalism develop that is not all about climate change and big government plans remake the economy. How about just getting chemicals out of the food and water for a start?
What a long strange trip its been.
Yes and no, Ruy. The Washington/Jefferson battles supposedly were just a culture war, but they reflected deep and critically important differences in how the culture shaped the policies. Imagine for a moment if Jefferson had won in 1796 and committed us as an ally to France. The U.S. probably would not exist. It took us another 16 years to get to the point we could repel another British invasion. Or take the formation of the Democrat Party by Martin Van Buren in 1826---ostensibly to elect Andrew Jackson, but the real goal was to protect and preserve slavery to as to prevent a civil war. It turns out from 1828 t0 1860, every single policy was a part of that "culture war" over slavery. You couldn't even send MAIL to the South if it opposed abortion . . . er, . . . slavery. No discussion in Congress was allowed that dealt with slavery.
Throughout our history culture wars are actually shorthand for real policies that dramatically shape the direction of the country. America First implies a dozen specific policies OF the culture that are inescapable: either we protect, defend, and prosper America first, or we drift into obsolescence and probably civil war or division. As a historian, I think this is the clear message of history. We defeated that impulse brought by the Democrats in 1860. Can we do it again? To be seen.
The strangest thing about this election is how the subtext is culture war, as you say - a war between a newer conception of America where the government exists to "help the little guy" and help people avoid personal problems, and a more traditional conception of America where the government exists to be a referee that is generally hands-off when it comes to people handling their own affairs, with some exceptions for the elderly and those who can't care for themselves. Republicans still talk like they're going to roll back the New Deal (while somehow simultaneously protecting the most expensive programs that came out of it) and Democrats talk like it's Great Society time all the time.
While there are real policy differences, it's more about who's getting handouts than whether or not there should be handouts. That is a pretty stark change in a mere 20-ish years. This is getting very bread and circus-y, and it does not bode well for our nation's ability to maintain any sort of fiscal sanity.
I read the surveys and polling differently. I'd say people have somewhat separated into parties over issues. It's not only that we have different opinions on issues, but that different issues are important to us. For many Republicans abortion is not so important nor is climate. For many Democrats jobs lost due to illegal immigration and offshore manufacturing isn't important.
Both parties are also changing. Democrats are losing the working class, and Republicans are becoming the party of the working class. Democrats still support many social welfare programs because they always have, likewise Republicans still support reducing taxes on the wealthy because they always have. The new parties are uncomfortable in their own skins.