Times change, and the requirements imposed by changing times demand adjustments in policy. It is hard to imagine two more different politicians than the two Roosevelts. Both were harshly castigated as “traitors” to their class and to the established patterns of their times. “Progressive” was an epithet then that would have been bleeped.
The Republicans have not “veered left” in my view. They have been required to make some adjustments to maintain a relevance in today’s society, which has changed. Granted, not all of the changes have been for the better; but neither can it be argued that all changes have been detrimental.
McCain represents a mix of “allegiances” that many on the right of the Republican Party do not like. Unlike Romney, McCain is a consistent and known quantity. Romney has a different policy in every pocket, ready to pull out to please the crowed. McCain does not always please the crowd, and that is often a strong virtue. One must adapt to the times or face the inevitable verdict of history, as did Lincoln’s Whigs — the evolution that gave us the Republicans.
And then there is the reality of Billary. So which will it be: ideological purity and Billary in the White House? Or a more realistic and amenable approach to fitting Republican values to national needs than we have seen over the past eight years?
