From David Brooks’s Times-Select-incarcerated column on the GOP today:
And at the presidential level, things are even worse. The party is blessed
with a series of charismatic candidates who are not orthodox Republicans. But
the pressures of the campaign are such that these candidates have had to repress
anything that might make them interesting. Instead of offering something new,
each of them has been going around pretending to be the second coming of George
Allen — a bland, orthodox candidate who will not challenge any of the party’s
customs or prejudices.