Republican Party Is Changing, Consciously

The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week is not just a celebration or a crowning of the party's presidential ticket. It's a realignment. Republican positions are no longer standard conservative down the line; the party is turning toward economic populism, for instance, Politico reports. And longstanding relationships with business and unions are changing. The remodeling is driven partly by societal and demographic changes and an attempt at building a broader coalition. The result is a party that its leaders from the 1970s wouldn't recognize, Stuart Rothenberg writes in an opinion piece in Roll Call. "I think what we're witnessing now is a full on frontal assault on conservatism," said Marc Short, who was chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan puts the change another way, saying: "I think President Trump has made our party what it always should have been, which is a populist party rooted in conservative principles." Examples of the sometimes-awkward shift include:

• Abortion: Organizations working against abortion access objected to the more cryptic plank in the party's platform, which mostly reiterates Donald Trump's most recent stance of letting states decide the issue. Those organizations, and delegates, dropped their opposition to the revised wording. "This platform is a platform that is responsive and supportive of where America is actually at," said one delegate.
• Unions: The convention heard from a Teamster for the first time ever. Union President Sean O'Brien's speech was a shock to the GOP system, ripping Right to Work laws and corporations as "the biggest recipients of welfare in this country." He referred to the Chamber of Commerce as "unions for big business." Party leaders are reaching out to unions, though polls show little support for that in the party at large, per a Washington Post analysis. "I was starting to squirm a little bit on some of that stuff, but I also know how you blend that, and that's what makes up my support," said Indiana Sen. Mike Braun. "And that doesn't mean you take the most outrageous stuff that he might have said, but you don't dismiss some of the rest of it, and you find a new coalition."

• Ukraine: The speakers Wednesday night "went a step further," Short said, giving the example of those who essentially said "NATO was at fault for Putin's invasion of Ukraine." That follows the lead of Vance, who once said, "I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another." There's no mention of Ukraine in the platform, though polls show Republicans have no objection to the amount of aid provided by the US.
• Marriage: There's no mention in the platform anymore about marriage being between one man and one woman, either. It does express support for "a culture that values the sanctity of marriage" and "the foundational role of families." That appears to be a loss for one segment of the party.

Overall, the Republican platform is largely a collection of Trump's quotes and social media posts, often verbatim, per the Post—sometimes in his all-caps style. "This is a British Tory platform," said former Sen. Rick Santorum. "This is not a conservative platform. Trump is aiming right down the middle." (More Republican National Convention stories.)