The Ghosts

There's something which I need to hammer into the moderate Democrats heads.  Moderate Republicans DO NOT EXISTS ANYMORE!

One of the biggest problems we've had as a party is moderate Democrats taking an approach which dismisses a majority of the Democratic Party in favor of 'working with' moderate Republicans.  It's not hard to understand, as many moderate Democrats think they have more in common with the guy five feet away from them, on the other side of the fence, rather than the brother WAY over on the other side of the field.

The problem is moderate Republicans are no longer on the other side of the fence, rather five farms over.  To visit the moderate Republicans the moderate Democrats still think exist, they need a time machine.  The moderate Republicans they're trying to work with haven't existed in the Republican party for 15 years.

Moderates on the right began being phased out by their own party starting in the early 90's.  Back then there were pro-choice, and pro-social safety net Republicans, but when Newt Gingrich came around, everything started to change.  The party demanded no deviation from a standard group of beliefs, a platform which was much further to the right than moderates were used to.  The message was simple; become more conservative or retire.

Many moderates did retire.  But some, begrudgingly or not, moved further to the right.  Jim Ramstad managed to make it to 2008, but by then even he realized the party wasn't going to stop moving further and further to the right.  He abandoned ship, replaced by the eager far right yes man Erik Paulsen.

Local Republicans, like Jim Rhodes, my one time MN House Rep., found himself the face of a party which not only no longer represented him, it no longer represented the district he served.  The national party's movement had turned his district a solid blue.

Moderate Republicans have disappeared.  They're casper, vapor, a ghost.  Anyone who's an active Republican is so far to the right, there's no ability for them to claim they're moderate.  For goodness sake, the Minnesota Republicans just voted against an Emergency Insulin Fund, a non partisan issue which would save lives.  They all voted against it.  Where's the moderate there?  On the national level, the narrative is clear.  If you're not two steps further to the right of Trump, you're liberal.  Look at how people like Susan Collins have had to sell out their own morals to stay in the party's favor.

Moderate Republican voters have scattered.  If they silently kept voting Republican, they technically moved away from moderation the minute they checked Trump on the ballot.  Some Moderates became Democrats.  Others, who are too stubborn to even consider voting Democrat, stay at home on election day.  They know their party is dangerous, but to vote against them would mean they're betraying Reagan.  They'd rather sit it out.

Moderate Democrats, the Republicans who are going to work with you have already become Democrats.  Forget trying to appeal to a phantom.  Focus your attention in two directions; your party (even though they might be liberal progressives, they still have more in common with you than the moderate Republicans do) and on the 110 million who sat out the last election (many of whom are frustrated Democrats and progressives who have been turned off by the moderates who have been driving the party towards the right rather than focusing on Democratic strongpoints).

Moderate Republicans no longer exist.