Good old Ross Douthat, conservative columnist for the New York Times, one of the very few legacy media outlets that actually still practices journalism, instead of the never-ending search for click-bait. Bad enough that he joined the hoards of his colleagues in going from Never Trump to hey-a-win-for-my-side-is-always-good-and-maybe-the-office-will-change-him. (Note: The office does not change the office holder; in fact, history shows that the reverse is almost always true.) Now, he joins almost everyone else in political media by saying, as he does here, that the Republican Party is so great that America needs two of them. Freedom of choice! As long as I get my way!
To be fair, he mostly offers some mushy thoughts about "moving toward the center"--wherever that is these days. We've moved so far to the right that democracy is about to fall off the edge. We've got an incoming Administration that, from the looks of its appointees, are prepared to make the same mistakes of yesterday, confident that the results will look different (Paging the definition of insanity: the Trump transition people are spitting at you.) We've got young people in the streets, scared to death about their futures, and all they get are lectures to calm down from the I've-got-mine crowd. And, of course, we've got the Washington give-him-a-chance-this-screaming-through-Twitter-thing-might-be-just-what-democracy-needs crowd (if you overlook his armed-to-the-teeth supporters, that is).
Truth to tell, Ross, a party that won the popular vote in both the presidential and Senate races actually shouldn't need all that much policy retooling. But I'll ask you for a favor.
If we agree to take a look at your suggestions, can you do something about the gerrymandering, dark fundraising, and voter suppression on your side? You see, I don't think we need two of the same party. I think we just need a level playing field for the parties we've got.
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