To understand why I post as I do, it might be helpful to understand the situation in Illinois. In Illinois Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both houses of the legislature and a Democrat is governor. The Illinois Republican Party continues to exist but it is, as has been said, supine. If every Republican were to vanish magically from the state of Illinois it would make no difference whatever in Illinois’s situation.
In Chicago no Republican has even bothered running for mayor for a decade or more. When people vote for the Democratic candidates it’s because those are the candidates running.
I have no idea what Republicans are thinking at the national level. The only thing they can seem to agree on is they want lower taxes. Consider the following (rather complicated) chart:
As that chart illustrates even were we to eliminate all spending other than healthcare spending, Social Security, interest on the debt, and defense, we would still be running a deficit.
Republicans have defended entitlement spending and defense spending and yet still want to cut taxes. There’s a mismatch there that I simply don’t understand.
I think establishment Republicans like establishment Democrats are hopelessly corrupt. They are so corrupt they don’t even realize it’s corruption any more.
Why should I perseverate in kvetching about Republicans? They have no impact on my life.
My view is that Republicans are in a civil war, and until that resolves, they don’t really have any policies, much less coherent ones, other than a preference for tax cuts and opposing whatever Democrats do. In short, what Republicans believe depends entirely on who you ask.