Quote (bogie160 @ Jun 29 2023 02:31pm)
The south wants small-town fiscal conservatism, by which I mean a pro-growth regulatory environment and lenient local taxation. The Republican party still champions those things. But they're also stolidly pro-family with traditional mores, and the Republican party wants to champion that too.
I see the sunbelt shift as a result of blue state migration and changing cultural loyalties among a segment of the white suburban class. In the short run, nothing to do about it. In the long-run, Republicans need to recognize that they're turned over the structural levers of power to the Democratic party. DeSantis has the right idea, strip DC / Northern Virginia of its power and relocate the bureaucracy to friendly sites.
The biggest issue of the federal vs local conversation is it skips the state, and we're seeing really odd state level social politics while they ignore serious issues. trans laws, abortion laws, book bans, etc. Mostly in states with crumbling metropolitan areas AND crumbling rural areas. mid sized cities are doing ok, but the highs and lows are shitholes.
im a big fan of local republican politics, thats where the GOP shines, but at state and federal levels they're obsessed with trannies and books. i dont like what the DNC is doing, but they've at least got ineffectual programs to fall back on. i cant even think of the last thing i can credit to the GOP that isn't "got rid of _____", "scotus did _____ (not us)" or "we're now safe from trans/book/etc". Even the trump era was a big pile of EOs.