Back in the day, Republicans were Republicans and Democrats were Democrats. If you wanted less government involvement and traditional values, you voted Republican. If you cared about the environment and wanted better government programs that would benefit everyone, you voted Democrat.
But something has changed since the 2024 election and neither of the parties are on the same page as they were previously. We have the Republicans in the government advocating for more government control, in the forms of the National Guard and ICE agents in every city, while passing laws that support their new stance.
Then, we have Democrats pivoting from their decade-long main platform of LGBTQ rights and abortion rights and returning to their roots of working-class rights, with a new spin of advocating for less government, effectively taking the opposite stance of their predecessors. Because of this, there is a huge amount of infighting and the terms “Republican” and “Democrat” no longer mean what they did only a few years ago.
You see, during Trump’s first term, MAGA was seemingly aligned with conservative values. During the second term, however, they could not be more different. Trump’s constant chaotic actions and changing viewpoints have left even his most fervent supporters questioning him at times. His mishandling by of the Epstein Files, running on a platform of No New Wars, just to start (and stop, and start, etc.) a pointless war with Iran, and his desire to change everything he can about historical locations in Washington DC and elsewhere are the opposite of conservative values.
This makes it hard because conservatives are now left to either do mental gymnastics to align their viewpoint with his, or admit that there’s something wrong with all of this. You can only say “Well, I’m sure he knows what he’s doing” so many times before you lose confidence.
This is leading to a schism in the Republican Party, where the elected officials no longer hold the same beliefs as their constituents, and the people are getting angry about it. Tucker Carlson recently announced to his 50 million+ followers that he is leaving the Republican Party over this, and a large amount of Conservatives agreed with his stance.
A huge reason for this rift is also the support of Israel. Many Republican and Democratic voters feel that we are too enmeshed in Israel and that they are taking advantage of us. This isn’t unfounded, either, because they have ruined several of our peace negotiations with Iran by attacking Lebanon, undermining our efforts to end the war. Also, we give Israel roughly $3.8 billion yearly, while their citizens enjoy things like free healthcare, discounted colleges, and all families even receive a monthly allowance from the government. From the standpoint of 60% of US adults, why should we donate to a warmongering country whose citizens live better than we do? It’s a hot topic these days.
Last week, a vote was held on Thomas Massie’s amendment to our spending bill that would cut off all aid to Israel. It didn’t pass. Thomas Massie was the only Republican to vote for it, but over half of Democrats also voted for it. This is in stark contrast to the time another bill for Israel was voted on in 2016, where Democrats unanimously agreed to continue funding Israel for ten more years. In fact, the only four in all of Congress to vote against that bill were Republicans.
So, in just ten years the parties have shifted that much on this issue. And the Republican Party is struggling to toe the line of the differences in interests of their citizens and their officials. It’s becoming harder to convince struggling everyday Americans that they should be happy about $4 gas prices and expensive additions to the White House when life seems to be getting worse for them daily.
Which brings me to the strong Democratic candidates that have emerged recently who are bridging the gap and courting the Republicans who are unsatisfied with MAGA. They are doing well in the polls because when things are going badly, many people believe they should change the course instead of doubling down.
In Texas, we have James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who has a fantastic ability to resonate with the average person in a way that other candidates have fallen short. He’s so squeaky clean that the only attack they have on him is a rumor that he’s vegan, which he denies.
Then in our own state, we have Jamie Davis, a farmer from Tensas Parish, who is running for Senate. His platform is a combination of the vintage Democrat middle-class rights like healthcare reform and affordability, but with the conservative values of protecting his state, which he is practicing in the form of opposing big corporations coming in and causing damage to our state.
Both Davis and Talarico also support securing our borders and protecting our 2nd Amendment rights, which further blur the lines between parties. Ten years ago, both of those things would have been unthinkable for any member of the Democratic Party, but here we are.
I’ve been saying for months that we need to ditch our party loyalties, especially since they are proving to be more loyal to themselves than any of us. We need to be looking at regular candidates who are not enmeshed with sketchy PACs and the Political Machine. It’s time we ignore party affiliation and instead look at the platforms of the people we are choosing to represent us, because our country’s viewpoints are changing and our new voices deserve to be heard as well.
Taryn Ogletree is a local small business owner and author with previous experience of several years in finance.