“I didn’t leave the Democratic Party . . . The Democratic Party left me.”

I was surprised to hear this quote attributed to Ronald Reagan. Widely acknowledged as the greatest Republican of the modern era, I just assumed he was a lifer. Not a convert. Makes me wonder what turned him off. What was the tipping point? Vietnam? Roe v. Wade? The Carter-era recession?

Imagine how he would feel today. Democrats are about 1,000 clicks to the left of where they were back when he was roaming the halls of the White House. I barely recognize them, and I’ve been leaning leftward since I first heard the words criminal justice reform. What do you think Mr. Reagan would make of drag queen story hour or woke twitter or gender-neutral pronouns? No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, I think we can agree on what the great man’s reaction might be. Something along the lines of Wtf?

But I doubt he would he recognize the Republican Party either. Not this 2024 version. I know I sure as hell don’t. And I’m not even talking about the tattoo-faced influencers addressing the once puritanical Republican National Convention. Or Hulk Hogan. I’m talking policy . . . core beliefs . . . political philosophy.

All my life, Republicans have been hawkish on war and interventionism while also pro-Wall Street and big business. They were the boring old adults in the room who served as a check on those wild-eyed liberals with their radical ideas. Democrats, on the other hand, once represented the anti-war movement abroad and at home, and marched in lockstep with the unions. While their “trickle-down-economics” Republican counterparts fought for the fat bottom lines of America’s corporate world, Democrats fought for the working man.

Those days are over.

I was blown away on Monday night when Sean O’Brien of the Teamsters union addressed the RNC. And he pulled zero punches. A crowd that earlier booed patron saint of Kentucky Mitch McConnell, applauded when this guy spoke of corporate greed and fair wages. Applauded. Then on Wednesday night, Ohio Senator and Vice President hopeful J.D. Vance exalted the American worker and took a decided swipe at “Wall Street barons.” He also laid into a government that sent young men off to die in Iraq, and he is probably the most vocal senator when it comes to defunding the war effort in Ukraine.

I’m not sure what the endgame is. A lot of that depends on their fearless leader who, like Reagan, recently survived an assassination attempt. One thing is clear—this is not your father’s Republican Party.

—July 18, 2024