The thing about the need for a strong conservative party in the US is that we already have one (if you mean small-c conservative). That party is the Democratic Party wch believes in democratic norms & seeks to preserve & reform the New Deal state that is older than virtually every living American.

I have been repeatedly informed by right-wing media that the "democrat" party is filled with nothing but vicious far-left radicals, like Tim Walz.

Would love to see them become the de facto Conservative Party and make room for a progressive party that was electorally viable…

And it is working rather furiously behind the scenes to conserve a status quo that has clearly become unsustainable. Insofar as it's doing that to prevent fascist takeover, that's great, but it's also working just about as hard to prevent Left-alternatives to it from emerging or gaining traction.

In small-c conservative fashion, that party has gradually incorporated historically marginalized groups and, in line with the very old post-WWII liberal consensus, sought to gradually unwind historical bigotries and forms of discrimination that have made it hard for all to flourish equally.

the problem is we don't have magical political scientists who can with a wave of a magic dry erase marker rework our reality to some more stable version

🎯

Well said. 👏

I think the GOP has been poisoned by Christian conservatism which is not the same thing as political conservatism. Essentially it is fundamentalists with a literalist view of the Bible proof-texting verses to support their racist, anti-environment, anti-LGBT, anti-woman, anti-abortion agenda.

Beyond that, Democrats have mostly internalized neoliberal concerns about taxation and regulation. Not all Dems are neoliberals, but they have a seat at the table, near the head of the table in reality.

Every time I read someone like Gaetz or MTG referred to as "conservatives," I want to scream. There is almost nothing conservative about them: they are radical reactionaries.