The Right: A New Understanding. Matthew Continetti

How did the Republican Party go from being dominated by Ronald Reagan in the 80s to the movement of Trump? What are the deep tensions between grassroots Republicans and Conservative elites who used to be in charge? Six months before the 2022 midterm election, why would liberals and progressives stand to benefit from understanding exactly why conservatives win so many races? 

We grapple with these questions and many more in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?"

Our guest is conservative intellectual, scholar and journalist, Matthew Continetti— a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. His new book is "The Right: The Hundred Year War on American Conservatism."

"I resist this temptation to simply pathologize conservatism, because I don't think it explains why the American right has been so successful," Matthew tells us. Asked about critics who argue that Republicans are racist, sexist or homophobic, he says, "I think it's dangerous for the American left to ascribe everything to these 'isms'".

Notes: Jonathan Rauch, our guest on episode 344, wrote a favorable review Matthew's book in The New York Times. We discussed Gerard Baker's Wall Street Journal op-ed, "Republicans Remain Shackled to Donald Trump" in this week's show.

Recommendation: Richard watched and enjoyed the new Netflix comedy, "Standing Up".

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