Republican Party

The Cheapest Date in American Politics?

David French says social conservatives risk becoming a laughingstock. Unfortunately, he understates his case. Continue Reading »

After Reaganism: What’s Next for Traditional Conservatives?

If Reaganism as a political program is dead, then politically active religious conservatives must think about what new political coalition they might join with a view to defending their core principles and otherwise promoting the common good. Continue Reading »

Homelessness, Party-Style

Catholics aren’t wrong to feel that the Democrats and the Republicans have left them. Continue Reading »

Move On?

Moving on from the gay marriage issue won't be easy. Continue Reading »

The Tempering of Democracy

Might we do well to admit, not that democracy is a bad thing, but that too much democracy can harm a country's constitution? Continue Reading »

The Passé Passes Again

The Republicans are reliving the Democratic Party's nightmares. The cancelled Donald Trump event of Friday March 11 seemed to presage 1968-style disruptions at political events, but 1968 might not be the right analogy. As the party of tired myth and exhausted agenda, the Republicans of 2016 most . . . . Continue Reading »

The End of Democracy?

Social media tend to magnify the expansive self, encouraging participants to stake out a virtual identity within the ethereal territory of the world wide web: “This is who I am, like it or not!” “My political beliefs are part of my identity; to call them into question is to call my very identity into question.” Continue Reading »

What Trump Teaches Us

We’re in a clarifying moment. Since Super Tuesday and Trump’s successes in a number of states, the Republican Party establishment is mounting an all-out effort to discredit him and to prevent him from becoming the GOP nominee. If these efforts succeed, something like the standard politics of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Trumpageddon!

The Republican establishment has swung into DEFCON I, maximum force alert. Last month I contributed to a widely publicized symposium at National Review. Our hope was to stop his rise. The liberal establishment is, if anything, even more agitated. Trump transgresses the rules of political engagement, to say nothing of political correctness. A stream-of-consciousness, reality TV show insult machine leads the race for the Republican Party nomination. How did we come to this point?

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Trump, Sanders, and the Middle Class

Last week I contributed to the National Review symposium, “Conservatives Against Trump.” I was happy to do so. Donald Trump manifests the post-political mentality of our time, encouraging the idea that our problems boil down to stupid, weak, corrupt people being in charge, and that all we need . . . . Continue Reading »