The Republican Party has changed so quickly and so decisively in the last decade that GOP leaders of the 1970s probably wouldn’t recognize it.

In some respects, the changes are positive. There are more women and Black Republicans in Congress than there were a few decades ago. But in other respects, the new Republican Party is spiteful, cruel and narrow-minded.

A new ideology

The party is no longer the party of Vice President Gerald Ford or Sens. Bob Dole of Kansas, John McCain of Arizona or Mitt Romney of Utah — each of whom was nominated for president at a GOP national convention. Those Republicans were all pragmatic conservatives who understood not only that compromise and cooperation across the aisle made it possible to pass important bipartisan legislative initiatives but also understood that pragmatism produced tolerance and civility.

Some will note that those four presidential hopefuls lost their White House bids. That’s true, of course. But for many former Republicans, process and respect are just as important as victory.

The list of Republicans who would no longer be comfortable in their party ranges from liberal senators like New York’s Jacob Javits and Pennsylvania’s John Heinz to more conservative pragmatists like Tennessee’s Howard Baker and Ohio’s George Voinovich. It also includes former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, whose Republican and conservative credentials are unmatched.

Now, the GOP is filled with radicals like Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida: mean-spirited ideologues who prefer throwing bombs rather than chewing over ideas that will help average Americans. 

The party seems to have little interest in electing moderates like Maryland Senate hopeful Larry Hogan. It is just as worrisome that many so-called conservatives care more about worshiping former President Donald Trump than following conservative principles.

Different credentials

Republicans once valued experience, character and credentials in their presidential nominees. Unlike the Democrats, who flirted with long-shot presidential hopefuls such as Colorado Sen. Gary Hart and Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, the GOP almost always nominated for president the “next old white guy in line.”

The new Republican Party is more interested in nominating “outsiders” with little or no political experience. 

Last cycle, the party was more comfortable with candidates like television personality Mehmet Oz (of Pennsylvania) or venture capitalist Blake Masters (of Arizona), both of whom lost statewide races in 2022.

This year, Ohio GOP primary voters picked as their Senate hopeful auto dealer Bernie Moreno, who has little or no government experience, over a veteran state legislator and a statewide elected official. 

Issues and agenda

The issue agenda of the Republican Party has also changed dramatically. 

For decades, the GOP was the party of small business and Wall Street, and conservatives led the fight against the Soviet Union, communism and China. The Republican Party stood for anti-communism, national security, free trade, fiscal responsibility and limited government. 

The “new” Republican Party is still the party of corporate America, but it now emphasizes cultural issues such as transgender rights, gun owner rights, immigration and crime.

The two parties’ evolution on trade offers a striking example of how things have changed. Trump repeatedly threatens to impose tariffs on America’s adversaries, particularly China, even though that could result in more inflation and slower economic growth.

On foreign policy, Trump has aligned himself with authoritarian leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. And he has undermined America’s support for Ukraine and raised questions about his willingness to support NATO.

Those positions and relationships must have President Ronald Reagan rolling over in his grave.

Demographics, demographics, demographics

The makeup of the Republican Party has also changed markedly. Fundamentally, it has changed from the party of Main Street and mainline churches to the party of evangelical churches and Christian conservative voters.

The GOP has had some success wooing minority voters. It has also attracted angry, non-college-educated white voters who have felt ignored by the political establishment and their political leaders.

On the other hand, many upscale and highly educated voters who once preferred the GOP but have grown uncomfortable with the party’s opposition to abortion rights in particular have now gravitated to the Democrats. These high-turnout voters have been alienated by the GOP’s culturally conservative views, as well as the party’s coarse language, extremism and embrace of Trump.

The bottom line

Will the GOP change again after Trump leaves the political battlefield? Nobody knows. But it’s clear that the current Republican Party is very different from your father’s and grandfather’s. It is up to you to decide whether that is a good thing.

Sen. Josh Hawley’s name was corrected in this report.