The Republican Party has become the Party of Trump. The Party of Trump is not a viable political party, because it is defined by a single man's personality and intuitions about what's right for America and what's wrong with America. These intuitions don't form a coherent vision or approach to governance upon which to build a party philosophy or platform.
After Trump, what? We need a second political party to counter the Democrats, not because the Democrats are bad but because the competition of ideas is good. As John Stuart Mill said, "prevailing opinion and feeling" is a kind of tyranny to be resisted - or at least questioned. You can't think outside the box when the box is all you know. JSM says it best:
“He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion.” John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
While the pre-Trump Republican Party remained popular within small-town America, its limited government message was mostly about undoing what the Democrats had done, i.e., roll back taxes, regulations, and the intrusive nanny-state. Which doesn't exactly inspire passion for the cause. Enter Trump with all his sound and fury, promising bold action and giving voice to long-held grievances. Hell yeah!
Well, Trump will be gone one day and the Republican Party will need a new message - a message that can win over enough big city coastal voters to stand a chance in federal elections. What will it be? Hell if I know, but this is what I'd like to see in a bigger, better Republican Party*:
- Pro-business: promotes capitalism as the engine of prosperity without being naive about its potential to do harm.
- Regulatory Caution: accepts the necessity of government regulations while mindful of trade-offs, costs, and the possibility of unintended consequences.
- State Rights: embraces states as "laboratories of democracy" that enact and test experiments in policy without directly affecting the rest of the country.
- Universal Health Care: accepts that healthcare is a universal right and nobody should become sick or poor out of an inability to access medical attention or treatment.
- Fiscal Responsibility: assumes a "good householder" approach to government finances, with a focus on efficiency, accountability, and restraint.
- Environmental Stewardship: values the environment and other species separate from how they serve human desire.
- Consequentialist: cares more about outcomes than intentions; avoids speculation about the motives or character of opponents.
- Liberty-loving: supports the bedrock right to pursue our own good in our own way, so long as we do not deprive others of their liberty or harm the environment.
- Effective Safety-Net: accepts that everyone has the right to shelter, food, and opportunity, while careful to avoid disincentives to work.
If Republican Party actually embraced the above principles, I would even consider changing my own party affiliation.
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* These principles are meant to guide but not dictate policy, the better to encourage lively intra-party debate on specific issues.