Republicans looking to expand their party’s coalition have a problem. The public identifies them above all with Donald Trump, who is decidedly unpopular. Voters who can possibly stand Trump (and even some who can’t) are already Republicans. And when Republicans talk about something other than Trump, it is generally the Democrats. So swing voters know that the GOP staunchly opposes the Left, but what does the party offer them instead?
Republicans avoid that subject in part because they are divided about it. Among elected Republicans, as well as in the Right’s intellectual circles, there are now deep disagreements about spending, taxes, entitlements, trade, defense, foreign policy, the role of government, and many other issues that once mostly brought Republicans together. It is harder to envision a unifying policy agenda than it has been in decades, and Republicans have proposed precious few ideas of late.
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