Nobody likes the Republican Party. Almost every powerhouse in America is opposed to it – the media, the academy, the entertainment culture, the remnants of our high culture, the corporate suite, the nonprofit world. The boys are not attracted to it.
The party is divided, if not crushed. The opposition has a new presidency, almost a Senate majority, the house, if only a hair. The president, who is nearing his hundred-day mark and determined to show energy in the executive branch, has yet to rage masses of voters. His approval numbers are stable.
At the national level, everything is against the Republicans, even many of their leaders in Washington, many of whom are not leaning towards brightness.
What would constitute an active civic and political good in America in 2021? Help bring this party back. It’s worth saving from yourself too. At best, it has acted as a friend and protector of freedom, property, language and religious rights, an encourager of a just and expansive civil life, a defender of the law without which we are nothing, and the order it brings to ordinary people feel just as protected on the streets as kings. At best, it was Main Street, not Wall Street, a stopover for the government when they ask too much. In the worst case it was – worse! But let’s dwell on the good that can serve as a guide to rebuilding.
Some Republicans have been talking about breaking out of the two-party system and starting a third in recent years. But that’s not the way to go. Better to strengthen the system that has put us through a lot of chaos for more than a century and a half. In its crude way, the two-party system acts, even without wanting to, as a unifying force: Ultimately, despite all our differences and arguments, you must decide whether you are a constituency of Team A or Team B. The parties had to do in their harsh and inadequate ways Serve your interests. Things went with a feeling, an air, majority rule. With a third party you can win the presidency by 34%. That will not help national unity. And since this is America, once we have a third party we have a fourth and a fifth and everything will be chaotic with the loss of any sense of general consensus.
