Opinion: The GOP must accept its reality

Jan 29, 2022

To the editor:

With the coming midterms forecasted by many to bring about a firm repudiation of the left-wing government that has been in power since 2020 — of which many Americans have seen as being lackluster whether it be foreign policy blunders, economic anxiety, progressive cultural dogmas, and an inability to pass meaningful legislation — have given many on the right the false presumption that the coming years will be for the most part, a matter of simply being “not the other guy.”  

The GOP’s tendencies to lose sight on its aspirations, whether in power or the minority party, is all too common, and was foreseen blatantly during the Trump administration, which in many ways was a step in the right direction. Even then, the principles of the establishment and neoconservatives subverted much of what could have been a promising agenda. The right must recognize that the ways of the established order have lost touch with the desires of their respective voting constituencies, and much of the country.

The country and ideas that won Reagan and Bush have ceased to exist for all intents and purposes. The ideas of these conservative sects have proven insufficient at correcting the ever prevalent issues such as immigration, foreign intervention, culture, and economics. Even still, the GOP focuses its efforts on tax cuts, GDP, military expenditure and laissez-faire approaches to social issues.

As Patrick Buchanan Expressed almost 20 years ago, “Is whether the GDP rises at 2 or 3 or 4 percent as important as whether or not Western civilization endures and we remain one nation under God and one people?”

The writing is on the wall for the Grand Old Party. Accept this change, and recognize the importance of an America First agenda, or be left in the past in disgrace.

Aiden Mello,

Dartmouth High