IN THIS INSTALLMENT OF THE WILSON FILES, we turn our attention to Dr. Clyde Wilson's writings on the "Grand Old Party." For several decades Wilson has been prolifically combating the widespread delusion "that the Republicans represent a conservative bulwark against leftist revolution." "In its entire history of a century and a half," Wilson writes, "the Republican Party has never conserved anything. It has never had as a goal the intention of conserving anything worthwhile." Republican leaders have not only failed their voters; they have actively swindled them.As the author conclusively shows, today the party is not a political party at all. It is an electioneering machine to promote its leaders into positions of power and perks. Having no principles, it cannot function as an opposition party, as revealed in a total lack of effectiveness against the revolutionary Obama presidency. In 2014 Wilson predicted that grassroots disaffection might lead to the rise of a "maverick candidate." If such a candidate "is wise, brave, and somehow able to communicate with the people over the massive jamming of the media," he might "accomplish the wrecking of the Republican Elite, which would be a great service to the restoration of good government."Enter Donald Trump. Will the twin Republican and Democratic elites succeed in killing off the people's insurgency? This question will remain whatever the result of the November election. The Republican Party is a poor weapon for what needs to be done unless it is radically reformed, as Wilson demonstrates in his devastating history of "the Stupid Party."

From a leading voice among young conservatives, an impassioned argument that to stay relevant the Republican Party must look beyond short-term electoral gains and re-commit to historic conservative values. In 1963 Richard Hofstadter published his landmark book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Today, Matt Lewis argues, America's inclination toward simplicity and stupidity is stronger than ever, and its greatest victim is the Republican Party. Lewis, a respected conservative columnist and frequent guest on MSNBC's Morning Joe, eviscerates the phenomenon of candidates with a "no experience required" mentality and tea party "patriots" who possess bluster but few core beliefs. Lewis traces the conservative movement's roots, from Edmund Burke to William F. Buckley, and from Goldwater's loss to Reagan's landslide victory. He highlights visionary thinkers who understood nuance and deep ideology and changed the course of the nation. As we approach the 2016 presidential election, Lewis has an urgent message for fellow conservatives: embrace wisdom, humility, qualifications, and inclusion -- or face extinction.

American democracy is in deep crisis. But what do we do about it? That depends on how we understand the current threat.In Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop, Lee Drutman argues that we now have, for the first time in American history, a genuine two-party system, with two fully-sorted, truly national parties, divided over the character of the nation. And it's a disaster. It's a party system fundamentally at odds withour anti-majoritarian, compromise-oriented governing institutions. It threatens the very foundations of fairness and shared values on which our democracy depends.Deftly weaving together history, democratic theory, and cutting-edge political science research, Drutman tells the story of how American politics became so toxic and why the country is now trapped in a doom loop of escalating two-party warfare from which there is only one escape: increase the numberof parties through electoral reform. As he shows, American politics was once stable because the two parties held within them multiple factions, which made it possible to assemble flexible majorities and kept the climate of political combat from overheating. But as conservative Southern Democrats andliberal Northeastern Republicans disappeared, partisan conflict flattened and pulled apart. Once the parties became fully nationalized - a long-germinating process that culminated in 2010 - toxic partisanship took over completely. With the two parties divided over competing visions of nationalidentity, Democrats and Republicans no longer see each other as opponents, but as enemies. And the more the conflict escalates, the shakier our democracy feels.Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop makes a compelling case for large scale electoral reform - importantly, reform not requiring a constitutional amendment - that would give America more parties, making American democracy more representative, more responsive, and ultimately more stable.

He is gone.... For now. America, we got lucky. On the laundry list of things Donald Trump has been terrible at in his life, transforming our country into a fascist autocracy was only the latest. After four years of constant chaos, endless lying, the near daily horrors like an official policy to rip children from the arms of their parents to discourage illegal border crossings, we need to keep in mind that it could have been worse. As bad as it was, Donald Trump had zero capacity for strategic thinking, no interest in learning from his mistakes, a non-existent attention span. So, yes, he absolutely admired and praised murderous dictators and had authoritarian tendencies himself, including, of course, his repeated attempts to steal the election he could not win, capped off with the deadly QAnon Coup attempt of January 6. But he was inept, and terrible at implementing his impulses. What happens, though, next time, when the fascism-curious president is smarter and more competent? Donald Trump has blazed the trail and shown, with the help of a pliant Republican Party, that there is no consequence for trying to thwart the will of the voters. There will be others.

There has been an outpouring of research on populist conservatism since the advent of the Trump presidency and extreme right movements in Europe. Much less studied, however, is the growing political conservatism in the American academy and how it relates to populist sentiment. The Academic Trumpists addresses a gap in the research literature by looking at the impact of Trumpism on conservative faculty. It compares 109 professors who publicly support Trump to 89 conservative professors who oppose Trump. All 198 function as public intellectuals who advocated publicly their views. Drawing on recent research in the sociology of intellectuals and Pierre Bourdieu’s analytical field perspective, this book offers a fielding political identities and practices framework to show how these two groups of professors (Trumpists and anti-Trumpists) differ in where they teach, their intellectual orientations, their scholarly productivity, their political rationales, where they network with think tanks, scholarly professional associations, and government agencies, and their stances on key controversies surrounding the Trump presidency (Covid-19, the two impeachments, the November 2020 election lost, and the January 6 mob assault on the United States Capitol). The academic Trumpists embrace the right-wing populist wave mobilized by Trump and the conservative critics resist this move. This polarization of views between these two groups of conservative professors is enduring and rooted in two distinct social networks that connect their positions in the academic field to affiliations with conservative think tanks that reinforce their respective political identities and radical right-wing anti-establishment thinking in America more generally. This book will appeal to readers interested in the politics of higher education, the sociology of intellectuals, political sociology, and research on conservative and right-wing populism politics in America today.

Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor of Florida, spent years in the party’s inner circle. In this no-holds-barred memoir, he shows why he switched sides and became a Democrat. After serving as a Republican governor—one who was on the short list for the vice presidency in 2008—Charlie Crist made headlines when he decided to run for the U.S. Senate as an Independent. He was on the front page again when he endorsed President Obama in 2012 and spoke at the Democratic National Convention—and yet again when he officially joined the Democratic Party later that year. In The Party’s Over, he’ll make even more news when he reveals: The inside story of his 2010 Senate primary campaign against Marco Rubio, where he learned exactly how vicious the Republican leadership can be. His journey from inner circle to persona non grata, thanks to his literal embrace of President Obama. His very frank opinions on Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and other top-tier Republicans. Why he believes that Democrats have the right vision for Florida and the nation. • What he’s learned as a member of both parties and why he remains convinced that the two-party system can still work—with the right leadership. Rather than just rehashing his career, in this book Crist offers a focused indictment of the failings of the Republican Party, naming names and identifying where things went wrong. The Party’s Over is as far from “politics as usual” as you can get.

This journal notebook features 150 blank pages including a space for the date at the top of the pages. Perfect for taking notes, writing thoughts, tracking your goals, brainstorming, planning, organizing appointments and even as personal diary. Show your support for the best political party on the planet with this funny planner.Great gift idea for you, a friend, or a loved one with conservative views. You can even use this to jot down all the silly things stupid liberals say online and in the media.Trump supporters absolutely love this notebook! Put a smile on a conservative's face today and laugh at all the angry frowns you get when crazy liberals see this in public.