In A History of the English-Speaking People, Winston Churchill gives a pretty good explanation for the formation of modern political parties: various and modestly diverse factions can find common cause and coalesce into a larger body in order to achieve electoral success.  For much of their modern history, the Democrats and Republicans have differed mostly as to style rather than ideology.  Nowadays, however, ideology has risen in importance, particularly among the Democrats.

When asked to describe the conservative ideology, I simply said there really is no such thing.  Conservatives prefer pragmatic management of the public sector combined with minimal influence in the lives of the citizens.  Personal freedom is paramount.

This is not to say that Republicans are immune to ideology.  Just conservatives are.  Currently, the Republican party is undergoing a serious house cleaning.  RINOs and NeverTrumps are being squeezed out of the ranks as the Tea Partiers and Trumpists are licking their chops over the prospects for next year's midterms and beyond.

Meanwhile, the Democrats appear to have gone off their meds.  The agenda propelling the radical progressives is making much of the nation reach for the Maalox.  "Defund the Police."  Really?  Reparations for the descendants of slaves freed over 150 years ago, long before the ancestors of many Americans ever got here?  Increased government spending will reduce inflation?  I could go on and on.

The radical progs may have a screwball agenda, but they are at least militant.  They show up.  And vacuous hacks such as Biden are under their thumb.

This all didn't just happen overnight.  But it has, at last, become particularly visible.  Conservatives have their father figures such as Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, and William F. Buckley.  Other than Karl Marx, the Progs can trace their ascendency only to the Vietnam War, when fringe leftists took to the streets and became "legitimate."  The collapse of the old Soviet Union took away the go-to bad example that previously held such schemes in check.

No discussion of such a subject as this would be anywhere complete without including the co-opting of the education establishment.  Beyond the indoctrination of "young skulls full of mush" is the trickle-up effect on their parents.  Some adults, who should know better, are being infected with the same dogma that their offspring have been carrying.  The situation is in flux, and the education establishment is right now behind the eight-ball of parental ire.

We now come to the projection of the various trends provoking our interest.  The Democrat party is most likely to be severely damaged in next year's midterms.  The radical progs will shoulder the blame, but they won't change their ways.  It could be that they will be absorbed by the American remnant of the Green Party and continue to hug trees and maintain their vegan lifestyles.  The "moderate" Democrats will absorb the exiled RINOs, and the Tea Party Republicans will make further gains among blue-collar workers and middle-class minorities. 

But, then, what about the entrenched Democrat machines that have strangleholds on places like California?  The answer may be as simple as the phrase "right to work."  Making it illegal to force someone into joining a labor union as a condition of employment would seriously damage the union-Democrat forced funding system.  A majority of states (29) are already right to work.  Since the blue-state legislatures would never cooperate in such an endeavor, the ballot initiative process remains the best approach.

Meanwhile, as disastrous polling data mount up, the Dems keep doubling down on obnoxious advocacies.  Why?  Both ideology and reliance on corrupt supportive news media have given them a false sense of immortality.  Just now, Robert B. Reich penned an article in the Guardian attempting to explain, in the most optimistic tones, Biden's and Harris's apparent collapse in public opinion — in which he engages in, for an "economist" egregious prevarication.  He points to a significant bump in retail sales as evidence of the administration's success.  Even the "in the tank" news media have already admitted that most, if not all, gains in retail sales are due to price inflation.

A lot of the above is nothing more than a partially educated guess.  A year, or only eleven months, is an eternity in politics.  But then, I go again with Larry Kudlow: the trend is your friend.

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