There are four factions that matter in American politics now [View all]
For some time, the GOP has been going through an intra-party war, between the Old Guard Republicans -- in the Reagan tradition, mainly concerned with protecting business interests, and who are intellectually guided, if at all, by The National Review and the editorial page of the WSJ -- and a white-working-class right-populist-nationalist insurgency, which manifested first as the Perot campaign and Reform Party; then as the grassroots Republican backlash against W's immigration-reform plan; then as the Tea Party; and most recently as the Trump movement. The latter current, in addition to its electoral power, also includes more frightening aspects such as the "Patriot" movement -- the militias, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, QAnon, etc. White nationalism is also a significant subcurrent of the populist-nationalists, although not all people committed to this faction are NECESSARILY racists. The pro-biz variant of libertarianism known as "vulgar libertarianism" is also a subcurrent, although whether it is a subcurrent of the Old Guard or the populists is debatable.
Meanwhile, the Democrats are going through their own intra-party war, somewhat less acrimonious for the moment, between the Old Guard Democrats, your basic love-me-I'm-a-liberals and centrists, including many liberal/centrist Rockefeller Republicans who fled the GOP when it lurched hard-right; and a grassroots left-populist-progressive insurgency, many of whom are not afraid to call themselves "socialist," most recently manifested in the Sanders campaign (the last one, I expect, given his age). This last faction is the only one of the four that (1) still regularly produces any new ideas worth listening to, and (2) appears to be at all growing. It is part of a leftist American tradition that has been mostly dormant since the Socialist Party of America broke up in 1972, but now appears to be re-emerging.
Which side are you on?
= new reply since forum marked as read