Let me finish tonight with this.
Imagine having two modern political parties in this country, two parties that are moderate on social issues, reasonable on fiscal and economic matters.
Imagine having a Republican Party that represents the thinking of the big cities, the suburbs and the states of the East and West Coasts, a party capable of competing across the country with the Democrats and, again, reasonable in its politics and principles.
“Eisenhower Republicans” they were called in the 1950s. They were international in their foreign policy, moderate on domestic matters. And here’s the plus: when you went to vote, you had a reasonable choice. You could look at the candidates and really have to think who was the best—not like today when one political party holds to views so out there that many people feel they have no real choice when they get into that voting booth.
We’ll see. Will the Republicans get the message of this November, or will they double down on disaster? It’s an historic decision.
Chris Matthews