The firing of Robert Mueller and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement notwithstanding, both of the major American political parties are short on big ideas at the moment. But the one most conspicuously outdated in its outlook—the one fundamentally starved of novel thinking to address new challenges—is the one controlling the entire federal government, the one losing its most celebrated innovator, the one steered by a president with a rear-facing worldview and a crew of congressional leaders uninterested in challenging it.
“Think about how crazy this is. Kevin McCarthy has told people that he thinks the president is a genius with regard to his strategy on tariffs and trade. What kind of Republican Party is this?” says Mark Sanford, the South Carolina congressman and former governor, long considered a top policy mind on the right. Sanford, who lost his primary election this year partly because of his harsh criticisms of the president, adds: “I bring up McCarthy because he’s likely taking Paul’s job—but he mostly just echoes Trump. There are some great minds within our conference. But in this system, in this party, their voices aren’t being heard. Trump is casting an awfully big shadow right now.”
There is much at stake—for the party and for the country. Trump’s victory was a confirmation not only of the systemic, complex problems plaguing much of the electorate, but also of the failure of both parties in advancing modern solutions to address them.
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