Evolution

“The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.” P. J. O’Rourke

I recently reread P.J. O’Rourke’s “The Parliament of Whores”; it is a sobering and seminal work so currently relevant as to be required reading in both high school and college curriculums. O’Rourke is difficult to categorize politically, but I doubt the leadership of either of the two political parties would embrace him; he died in 2022 after years of combating cancer and will be sorely missed as one of the premier journalists in America. Anyone who has ever read his work, regardless of their politics, knows that he was faithful to the simple proposition that facts make for great humor, entertainment, and real journalism.

There were earlier editions of political parties that had “republican” as part of its name, but the one that continues today was founded in 1854 from the “Abolitionist Movement”, and early on was often referred to as the “The Party of Lincoln”. In the 1870s various newspaper editors referred to the Republican Party as the “Grand Old Party” (GOP), “Grand” for its stand against slavery and preservation of the Union, and “Old” as a reference to the founding of the Republic, not the age of the party itself which was comparatively young.

Following the Civil War, the party became a national political force, except in the South where the Democratic Party retained its dominance despite the defeat of the Confederacy; in fact, it remained so strong as to force the “Compromise of 1877” which ended Reconstruction, saw the birth of “Jim Crow Laws”, and successfully challenged the Republican Party in gubernatorial elections in the Southern States.

Except for Cleveland, the GOP won the presidency and dominated national politics for the remainder of the 19C; unfortunately, it became susceptible to cronyism, a corruption of power politics and big business. This association of a business elite who were hardly champions of free markets and politicians who put power before principle, would hamstring the GOP as the “…party for the rich…” at a time of the rise of the socialist movements in America. This decline of the Republican Party contributed to the rebirth of the Democratic Party as a national influence with Wilson and especially FDR.

What followed was a very chaotic period where the labels for politicians became a distorted argument of left versus right, where partisan politics became a “cause” rather than a coherent discussion of principles and policies. Both the Democratic and Republican Parties in some ways became populist’s movements almost indistinguishable at times with meaningless slogans and horrible fiscal policies; the uniting factors were a bipartisan ability to wage war and the growth of presidential power.  

There were two notable milestones in the modern populist era summarized with the name of two presidents, Reagan and Obama; while both had a huge influence on their political parties with dominant elections, both were followed by periods of failed leadership and polarizing partisanship. The evolution of the Republican Party depends on its ability to be more than just the MAGA slogan and the overpowering ego of Trump; it was handed a victory in the 2024 election by the Democratic Party that found a way to alienate Americans by embracing a cultural position toxic to a civilized society.

Whatever comes of the Democratic Party going forward is uncertain, but it is not a given that the Republican Party can count on them making the same mistakes. What is needed more than the polarizing partisanship of our main political parties is an evolution away from political parties all together. We were warned by many of the Founders that political parties were toxic to liberty and presented the greatest threat to the Republic, and it’s apparent they were right. We need an election that will be a win for the American people, and not just a political party.

“We will win an election when all the seats in the House and Senate and the chair behind the desk in the Oval Office and the whole bench of the Supreme Court are filled with people who wish they weren’t there.” P. J. O’Rourke.