I am going to vent about a type of person I have encountered over the years whose representatives continue to annoy me. Most (if not all) of these tiresome creatures are academics, and they have all told me time and time again that they would like to vote for a “kind, rational” Republican. Unfortunately, the party in question does not nominate candidates that people I know would want to support. When I ask them which Republican they support, they predictably name either Charlie Baker or some ultra-liberal governor from New England who is a nominal Republican.
This year, Nikki Haley appears to have joined a group of Republicans I know who are “moderate” and might consider voting for her in the presidential election (at least that's what they say). They argue that if Republicans were all likeable and kind, as one family friend described them as “that nice guy Tim Waltz,” they could offer an acceptable alternative to consistently moderate Democrats.
I would like to vote for the Democratic candidate, but unfortunately the Democratic Party is not running either Grover Cleveland or Adlai Stevenson this year.
My acquaintances complain about the “immoderation” of American politics, but issues like gender fluidity, taxing unrealized capital gains, rescuing black revolutionaries who are burning down American cities, and banning gender-specific pronouns have yet to befall the Republican Party. If the Republican Party were to move closer to the Democrats, my friends would have a real electoral choice between members of different parties who they deem worthy of their vote.
The last thing these people want in American politics is a clear ideological choice. What they really want is two national parties that never deviate from the left party line. But it's unclear whether these “moderates” and “independents” would change their party loyalties even if they had a preferred alternative. All they want is for both national parties to be on the left, for neither to pose a problem for the expanding administrative state and the people who run it, and for all social problems to be solved by woke administrators and judges. At that point, it doesn't matter if the Democratic candidate wins, because there is no serious ideological alternative we can vote for.
An effective tool to achieve the same end would be the Democratic National Committee's “Democracy” program, which would eliminate all effective opposition to the Left in one fell swoop: abolishing the filibuster, passing a national election law banning voter ID, and making the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico statehood would ensure woke rule by the one party of the Left.
Alternatives may exist in theory, but they won't do much to stop the Democratic Party's leftward drift. Democrats will continue to push their agenda through Congress and executive orders. Because “American Democracy” is said to require two national parties (at least, that's the convention), “moderate” Republican candidates will stick around and occasionally win to maintain the illusion of a binary choice. In such a controlled system, people who say, “I wish I could vote Republican” might occasionally vote for a non-Democrat candidate.
An even more embarrassing variation on the “too bad there's no Republican I can vote for” theme is the “Bad Orange Man” excuse for voting for a left-wing candidate. While there are certainly a few genuine Trump haters on the right (some of whom write for The Chronicles, the magazine I edit), nearly everyone who rails against Donald seems decidedly left-wing. They'd be happy to vote for Kamala Harris over anyone to the right of Joe Biden. I usually ask these habitual Trump haters if they would vote for Ron DeSantis or J.D. Vance if they were the Republican presidential candidate instead of Trump.
The answer I always get is that DeSantis is a book-banning, woman-hating religious fanatic. Vance has received similar criticism, but my respondents also describe him as a “nut.” My understanding is that it's not Trump that's preventing him from voting for the Republican presidential candidate, but his own left-wing impulses. He'll no doubt find plenty of reasons to dislike a Republican candidate who is at least as left-wing as his Democratic opponent.
Usually, at this point I become annoyed and sarcastic: for example, I would like to vote for the Democratic candidate, but unfortunately the Democrats are not fielding Grover Cleveland or Adelée Stevenson this year, and I remind my listeners that because I lean to the right politically and socially, I have no intention of voting for a “moderate” Republican, much less a left-leaning candidate fielded by another national party.
I expect similar candor from my interlocutors, rather than the usual platitudes about wanting to vote for a “sensible Republican.” The field is covered by such distinguished journalists as George Will, Bill Kristol, David French, Max Boot, David Brooks, and many others.
