In fact, Biden so sternly excoriated MAGA Republicans that Donald Trump, the MAGA Republican in chief, called the speech “the most vicious, hateful, and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president.”
Trump is prone to exaggeration. Still, I worry that Biden didn’t leave enough room to accommodate the traditional conservatives who are essential to our democracy. I wish Biden had given them a little more space, along these lines:
From its founding, America’s political history can be described as a struggle over how big the federal government should be. If liberals want a strong federal government, conservatives represent an important restraining force that keeps government in the midrange. It’s hard to imagine our nation without them.
Of course, this formulation embodies an inherent advantage for conservatives: Republicans can achieve political traction by running on “small government,” “low taxes” and “weak regulations.” No Democrat can run on “big government,” “high taxes” and “strong regulations.”
Politics is about finding the sweet spot, the place where citizens are more or less satisfied with the government they get for the amount of taxes they pay. Conservatives are essential to finding that balance.
This simplified portrayal of American politics has been skewed toward the right — to the particular advantage of MAGA Republicans — by the right wing’s successful, albeit often disingenuous, appropriation of cultural territory and values to which it’s not necessarily entitled.
Trump, an outspoken, charismatic figure, has claimed the virtues of “small government” and “low taxes.” He has also commandeered cultural values such as God, family and hard work, a particularly preposterous move for Trump. And he has tapped into our natural human attraction to grievance and anger.
All of this has furnished a tremendous amount of oxygen to the MAGA end of the political spectrum, suffocating the traditional conservatives who live closer to the right of center.
During his “Soul of America” speech, President Biden said “not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans.” I hope he’s right.
But a recent New York Times/Siena College poll reported that more than 70 percent of Republicans say that they would vote for a candidate who alleges that the 2020 election was stolen.
Normal Republicans, please come back. Your country needs you.
