Policy-wise, Liz was about as hardcore conservative as they come. She had the voting record, the backing of the oil & gas industries, heck she even stuck her neck out to try to bring back torture (the good ol’ Cheney family pet issue).
But it’s not about policy anymore. It’s about hardcore identity politics, and fealty to the Dear Leader. Squashing heresy and ejecting the less than 100% faithful is now more important to Republicans than getting anything done as a Party, let alone reaching across the aisle. Those jockeying for power as Republicans will have to perform increasingly elaborate performative counter-factual ritual embarrassments in order to even possibly be considered as “real Republicans.”
The Soviet Union was the same way from the 70s into the 80s: stuck in a web of its own contradictions and failures that it tried with increasing desperation to paper over with increasingly unbelievable lies. The ugly contraption of the Soviet state somehow kept bumbling along until one day it all collapsed under its own weight.
I’m basically repeating this excellent article’s thesis of why the GOP is in terminal decline so I may as well link it.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/618132/
Caption this Meme
