"Murdoch's mid-90s opp was to build something the country genuinely needed, when the #GOP was moving away from the responsible optimism of the #RonaldReagan party toward the angry #populism of #NewtGingrich & Tom DeLay: an effective center-rt counterbalance to the libs: Burke, Hamilton, #Lincoln rather thn the debase direction of Andrew Jackson, Joe McCarthy, Pat Buchanan
...instead of surf'g a killer wave, he could've purchased a ship & steered it." #BretStephens/#NYT
"the responsible optimism of the #RonaldReagan party"
Responsible optimism? That's so breathtakingly wrong, in so many ways, I can't even begin.
IMO, Nixon started the degradation of the GQP with his Southern Strategy, Reagan continued it by bringing in and catering to the fundamentalist wackadoos, and what we have today is the inevitable result.
@ScottSoCal Actually Goldwater kicked off the Southern Strategy before Nixon. Has been a long haul degradation & seems there's no bottom as MTG is now in full control [of McCarthy as puppet.]
@ScottSoCal agreed...just quoting author. But in context of the 'conservative mindset' today, it's not such a stretch to characterize the Reagan Era POV as about 'optimism & responsibility' as compared to the now Republican base: extremist evangelical, anti-human rights, violence forward, QAnon believing, lie-championing, & Russia-sympathizing/supporting.