The Party of Reagan ...

How did conservatism go from where it was in the 80's with The Party of Reagan to where it is today?

I can't really call myself a true conservative, but I am definitely conservative-friendly. Every online political survey I've ever taken has labeled me somewhere right of center to varying degrees, but I find less and less alignment with our national conservative leaders.

I just read an opinion piece by conservative political commentator, Adam Kinzinger, on Why Republicans are turning against aid to Ukraine. Mr Kinzinger is a USAF veteran of Iraq & Afghanistan and was also a Republican member of Congress from 2011 through January of this year. In his piece he says:

Gone is the party of Reagan, which was steadfast in its stand against tyranny. In its place is rising a GOP that seems immune to the world’s need for American leadership and uninterested in the suffering of a country we should aid until the fight is over.

Obviously, Mr Kinzinger in his essay and I in my post here are talking about Ukraine and Russia. One is led by an authoritarian tyrant who invaded the other, a fledgling democracy trying to shed the systems and institutions put upon it after decades of Soviet rule.

The Party of Reagan would not have taken a nanosecond to decide who to support in this conflict. Sure, they would've approached Ukraine about cleaning up some things (which they are doing), but none of that would have deterred The Party of Reagan from supporting Ukraine to the successful end of this conflict.

So, to my conservative friends ... Help me understand the thinking here? And in your explanations, please avoid the words Trump and/or Biden. Both of them are short-term blips in the history of this great country and in the development of western civilization & democracy.

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LordShadowfire · 46-50, M

I've never been in favor of even Reagan-style conservatism, but I miss it. I miss it compared to the way these people are acting today. And I know you said to avoid words like Trump or Biden, but I think Trump was the catalyst. He might be a blip in the history books, but he has changed the way we view political discourse.

In many ways, this is similar to how political debates changed when Bill Clinton was running for president. Debates were no longer quite so formal. Candidates were allowed to interrupt one another with zingers and quips, and both Bill Clinton and George Bush took advantage of that new rule. Things got less civilized than, just as they suddenly got less civilized in 2016.

However, Trump didn't just suddenly create the mood. Folks on the right have felt like their voices aren't heard for a long time. And it's all well and good to say that they aren't heard because what they have to say isn't productive, but that's not the way they see it. And now, with Trump as their example, these people have decided that it's okay, not just to interrupt someone else's speech, but the shout over them, to call them degrading names, and to mock them until they get angry and leave before declaring victory.

They just needed someone to give them permission.

sarabee1995 · 31-35, F

@LordShadowfire Conservatives and liberals of the eighties sought advantage over each other but did so in the process of negotiating and compromising. Neither side will give an inch today or anytime in the last two decades. It's awful.