The Republican Party has always stood for smaller government as government tends to over regulate business in general.
That has little to do with the characterization of the party as “right wing”. The true right wing element is politicized to appear that’s it’s the mainstream when that’s far from the truth. It’s an admitted segment promoted by media coverage.
Pandering is the reason. It’s all about votes. Over time groups (and/or regions) become disenfranchised and change political party affiliation.
Both parties live in fear of a strong third party candidate because their strongholds are so fragile. Bernie is a great example now. Ross Perot was one 30 years ago. Both parties attack the Independent so they don’t lose their base and risk the comfort of the two party system. After all, elections are typically won by a mere 0-4% vote differential.
It’s essentially just hatred of the “other” party that allows the election of nut jobs into the mainstream arena. Trump and AOC are great current examples. A strong Independent candidate (or Party) would alleviate some clear voter mistakes inherent in our two party system.
Assuming an unbiased Media - which is a horrible assumption in the US… They are actually part of the problem. News is no longer news. It’s an editorialized version thereof with some facets of the truth interspersed.
