People used to joke about the difference between Democrats and Republicans, and, in fairness, they still do. But, the joke when I was young focused on the fact that Dems had no real unifying policy, whereas, Republicans voted the party line something like 90% of the time. It's no great surprise: The Democratic Party is a coalition party, whereas, for decades the GOP has been a platform party.
Feel free to look at that sentence again. I know that I used the present tense for the Democratic Party and the past perfect tense for the GOP, that's very much intentional. We are watching the end of the GOP platform. That's a good thing; let me explain why.
The GOP isn't a single group of identical people with mostly unified policies. They're a coalition of interests, each unique and discrete. Other media divide them into moderates, religious conservatives, and tea-partiers, but that's not the real coalition. The real coalition is vastly more multifaceted. The real groups are: Plutocrats; pro-business moderate economic conservatives; Libertarians; Neo-Confederates; Christian extremists; white xenophobes; and political pawns. My descriptions sound insulting, but that doesn't mean they aren't true.
Plutocrats have been running the party for the last three decades. Plutocrats are the reason that income taxes on the wealthy are the lowest they've been since World War I. Plutocrats have money, and they want to keep as much of it as possible. They want policies that are good for the rich. They claim that they want these policies because it is good for everyone; the rising tide lifts all boats, but those claims are untrue. The economic realities of the last three decades have proven that trickle down economics don't. Plutocrats are against increases in minimum wage. They hate the Affordable Care Act. Plutocrats favor regressive tax policies. Plutocrats don't like regulations that make any business more expensive for them in the short term.
Pro Business Moderates believe that there are economic policies and government regulations that stifle growth and are against those, but, they tend to favor smaller businesses and are willing to support laws that might increase business costs if those costs ultimately benefit small businesses. These Moderates tend to be members of the Chamber of Commerce. They want policies that control health care costs. They're in favor of infrastructure projects and know that the US Postal Service is good.
Libertarians believe that the government that governs least governs best. They apply this theory to both social and economic policies. Libertarians want low taxes that only support projects the market can't solve: Police, Military, major infrastructure projects, etc. Libertarians favor permissive social policies, so they don't want to ban abortion or similar. Reasonable Libertarians may argue as to where the lines lie. They also may split on issues like public schools and how much funding they should receive. A lot of people call themselves Libertarians these days who actually aren't. Ron and Rand Paul's insistence on state's rights to prohibit abortion or gay marriage is at odds with a true libertarian policy.
But that's because Ron and Rand Paul are really Neo-Confederates. Neo-Confederates don't want there to be a strong central government. They want to return to a pre-civil-war strong state weak federal government. Neo Confederates claim that the founders intended for the federal goverment to be weak. Neo-Confederates hate the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, Medicare, and any other policy that might make people like federal Government.
Christian Extremists are often also called the Religious Right. Once upon a time, the Religious Right focused on certain religious issues, like prohibiting abortion, which they believe is murder. Unfortunately, this group has gone off the rails. Right now, this group is insisting that "religious freedom" means, not "the right to believe and practice as you see fit," but instead, "the right to force others to act in accordance with your religion." The Christian Extremists are against gay marriage. They also don't like that other people can use health insurance for abortion or birth control.
White xenophobes are an important sub group within the party. White xenophobes remember a time when being white in America meant something. They look around the world right now and they see that it means a lot less. In many instances, being white is less important because being rich is more important. But there is also the very real fact that Caucasian is no longer a majority in the US, merely a plurality. This group wants to protect privilege, whether that privilege occurs at the cost to blacks, illegal immigrants, women, or homosexuals. This group doesn't want "amnesty laws". This group also opposes gay marriage. Birthers tend to fall into this group. A lot of members of this group are also Christian Extremists, Neo-Confederates, or both. Sarah Palin is a white xenophobe, as is Michelle Bachmann.
The political pawns are an interesting case. For decades, the plutocrats have run the party. They've lied about funding the federal government. They've lied about economics. They've lied about the environment. The political pawns believed the story. Five years or so ago, with money spent by plutocrats, the pawns created the tea-party. And now they've started dominating primary elections. Political pawns are the reason why Republicans shut down the government. Political pawns are the reason why we've almost failed to raise the debt ceiling, twice. Political pawns taking over terrifies the moderates, and frightens the plutocrats. Political Pawns tend to hate everything that they understand government does which doesn't benefit them personally. Political pawns are the source of statements like "keep government out of my medicare."
The party has to become more split and more of a coalition or it will stop winning national elections. Look at the gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. They guy who reaches across the aisle and gets things done wins. The hard-liner who wants government to lose fails. But further, the guy who says, I believe a bunch of things, but I'm willing to work with people who don't and I'm willing to make policy deals I don't like 100% of did better than the guy who said the the GOP means that you're anti-background checks; anti-ACA; anti-gay; anti-abortion; and anti woman.
Unless you're an extremist, the modern GOP doesn't want you.
Don't feel bad, it wouldn't want William F. Buckley Jr., either. Hell, the modern GOP doesn't want actual Ronald Reagan.
