But he is the kind of liberal I like - fair. And honestly, I find lots that I like with the Republican National Platform - btw, as an immigrant to this country, I would love us to be aligned with Europe and end birthright citizenship. We cannot be a successful 21st century nationstate until we fully control our borders and accept immigrants who will help our economy (and some refugees as well obviously) while also offering the kinds of social services our tax dollars should be used for to help lift those who need it in times of economic uncertainty.

Anyway from the Noahopinion substack blog -

In the age of Donald Trump, it can be easy to forget that the Republican Party actually exists as an organization. But they do! The Republican National Committee oddly failed to release a party platform back in 2020, but they just released one for 2024. So I thought I’d go through it point by point and evaluate it.

There are dozens of points in the platform, so I can’t spend a lot of time on each one — well, I could, and it would probably be fun for me, but you’d stop reading long before the end. So let’s just hit the highlights; if that makes my assessments overly glib, I apologize in advance. Also note that the platform is laid out in a bit of a confusing manner — there’s a list of 20 “promises”, followed by 10 “chapters” that roughly correspond to these promises, but in a different order. So I’m going to go through the “chapters” instead of the “promises”.

My general verdict here is that this is a huge improvement on past Republican platforms. For one thing, the majority of it is focused on economic issues instead of culture wars. That signifies a pragmatism, and a desire to appeal to a broad, diverse electoral base, that I didn’t see from the GOP in previous cycles. Not all of the economic proposals are good ideas, but a fair number of them are, and that’s great to see.

In addition, this platform triangulates a lot of Democratic ideas — in particular, protecting Social Security, Medicare, and other programs for seniors. In that sense it’s very Clintonian. And on culture-war issues, the tone is usually pretty reasonable, except where immigration is concerned. In general, a willingness to blame immigrants for any and every problem the country faces is the single biggest weakness of the platform. But I will say that it does conclude with some very good rhetoric on foreign policy.

Anyway, let’s get on with the point-by-point evaluation!

Chapter One: “Defeat inflation and quickly bring down all prices”
The RNC’s first big idea is to beat inflation. That seems reasonable, given that people hate inflation, and it’s still above target. Their first idea here is to increase energy supply:

Under President Trump, the U.S. became the Number One Producer of Oil and Natural Gas in the World — and we will soon be again by lifting restrictions on American Energy Production and terminating the Socialist Green New Deal. Republicans will unleash Energy Production from all sources, including nuclear, to immediately slash Inflation and power American homes, cars, and factories with reliable, abundant, and affordable Energy.

Boosting energy supply is definitely deflationary, and would raise growth as well. One thing the RNC misses, of course, is that Biden has already done what they’re promising to do:

When the RNC says they’ll end the “Socialist Green New Deal”, I assume they mean repealing Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. This would be a mistake, since solar power and batteries are the future of cheap energy. Repealing the IRA wouldn’t stop that transition, but it might slow it down, and saddle the U.S. with more expensive legacy energy sources.

The RNC’s next ideas for beating inflation are to slash government spending and cut regulation:

Republicans will immediately stabilize the Economy by slashing wasteful Government spending and promoting Economic Growth…Republicans will reinstate President Trump's Deregulation Policies, which saved Americans $11,000 per household, and end Democrats’ regulatory onslaught that disproportionately harms low- and middle-income households.

The $11,000 number is of course made up, as these big eye-popping estimates of economic benefits in political documents and debates pretty much always are. But in general America does need fiscal austerity, and many parts of the economy are indeed over-regulated. And in theory, both of these should be disinflationary. So these are necessary moves. I should mention, though, that I’m not incredibly optimistic that the GOP will actually cut spending by a meaningful amount — if they did, it would be only the second time in living memory, after the Tea Party Congress and Obama reduced the deficit in the early 2010s.

The RNC’s final ideas for reducing inflation are to stop illegal immigration and to “restore peace through strength”. I’ll deal with both of these later, since they’re also chapters in their own right. But stopping illegal immigration is likely to exacerbate inflation a little bit, by causing labor shortages for industries where those illegal immigrants work (e.g. food processing). And “restoring peace through strength” will only reduce inflation if Trump can figure out a way to stop the Houthi attacks on international shipping.

Finally, a couple of points here. First, the RNC platform conflates bringing prices down with bringing inflation down (i.e., slowing the rate of price increases). The latter is very achievable; the former is probably not, except for a few goods like energy and food. Beating inflation means that prices keep going up, but only slowly. I suppose that confusion is forgivable, since most Americans probably don’t quite understand this difference either.

Also, I don’t see the platform mention grocery prices at all, which are one of the main price categories that Americans seem angry about.

Chapter 2: “Seal the border, and stop the migrant invasion”
Stopping the flood of asylum seekers illegally pouring over America’s southern border is something that Americans strongly desire. It’s not actually an “invasion”, and the RNC platform dramatically overstates the harms from this immigration — for example, “migrant crime” is basically a myth, since even illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than the native-born. But, Americans are very angry about the mass violation of their border — so angry that even Biden has cracked down recently, after largely ignoring the issue for two years. So something needs to be done.

What does the RNC promise to do? First, they’ll beef up border security:

Republicans will restore every Border Policy of the Trump administration and halt all releases of Illegal Aliens into the interior. We will complete the Border Wall, shift massive portions of Federal Law Enforcement to Immigration Enforcement, and use advanced technology to monitor and secure the Border. We will use all resources needed to stop the Invasion— including moving thousands of Troops currently stationed overseas to our own Southern Border. We will deploy the U.S. Navy to impose a full Fentanyl Blockade on the waters of our Region—boarding and inspecting ships to look for fentanyl and fentanyl precursors. Before we defend the Borders of Foreign Countries, we must first secure the Border of our Country.

This would probably be somewhat effective. With asylum, the goal is to sneak across the border and turn yourself in to the Border Patrol, after which you’re entitled to an asylum hearing. Making it harder to do the first part of that would decrease the number of people who get a hearing, and would thus discourage would-be migrants from trying this strategy.

Here are some other RNC ideas:

Republicans will strengthen ICE, increase penalties for illegal entry and overstaying Visas, and reinstate “Remain in Mexico” and other Policies that helped reduce Illegal Immigration by historic lows in President Trump’s first term. We will also invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of Illegal Alien gang violence once and for all. We will bring back the Travel Ban, and use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their Home Countries immediately…Republicans will cut federal Funding to sanctuary jurisdictions that release dangerous Illegal Alien criminals onto our streets, rather than handing them over to ICE. We will require local cooperation with Federal Immigration Enforcement.

Most of this is harsh stuff, but not crazy stuff. Removing “suspected gang members” goes way overboard and seems unlikely to make it through the courts — you can’t punish people just for being suspicious.

Next, the RNC promises a mass deportation campaign:

President Trump and Republicans will reverse the Democrats’ destructive Open Borders Policies that have allowed criminal gangs and Illegal Aliens from around the World to roam the United States without consequences. The Republican Party is committed to sending Illegal Aliens back home and removing those who have violated our Laws.

Hoover, FDR, and Eisenhower conducted mass deportation campaigns, so it’s not unprecedented, but doing this today would probably provoke a backlash. No one really wants to see ICE officials going door to door checking people’s papers. So this strikes me as more of a threat than a real proposal. If you want to make illegal immigrants leave the country, a much more effective way that won’t freak most Americans out is to start auditing and penalizing employers for hiring people who are in the country illegally.

One thing I don’t see in this platform is a promise to change U.S. asylum law, which is the root cause of the border crisis. Asylum reform seems like it would be a natural thing for Republicans to want to do, but I never see them proposing it — possibly because they simply don’t understand that it’s at the root of the whole problem.

Anyway, the RNC also has some proposals for legal immigration. They want to ideologically vet immigrants:

Republicans will use existing Federal Law to keep foreign Christian-hating Communists, Marxists, and Socialists out of America. Those who join our Country must love our Country. We will use extreme vetting to ensure that jihadists and jihadist sympathizers are not admitted.

This probably won’t do anything — as they note, these laws already exist and are already in use, so I don’t foresee any changes here.

Finally, the RNC wants to prioritize merit-based immigration over family-based (“chain”) migration:

Republicans will prioritize Merit-based immigration, ensuring those admitted to our Country contribute positively to our Society and Economy, and never become a drain on Public Resources. We will end Chain Migration, and put American Workers first!

Shifting U.S. green cards from family immigration to employment-based immigration would be fine — it would align the U.S. more closely with other countries like Canada and Australia, where merit-based immigration makes up a larger share and family-based immigration makes up a smaller share. The benefit from this would be pretty minor, since chain migration is actually how smart talented people bring over their smart talented families. But basically this would be a slightly positive move. (The really good move, of course, would just be to increase employment-based green cards while keeping chain migration constant.)

Chapter 3: “Build the greatest economy in history”
Everyone (except degrowthers) wants the greatest economy in history; the question is how to get it.

The RNC’s first suggestion here is deregulation, which I’ve covered above. Their next idea is — surprise!! — tax cuts. Actually there is kind of a surprise in here, because they want to eliminate taxes on tips:

Republicans will make permanent the provisions of the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that doubled the standard deduction, expanded the Child Tax Credit, and spurred Economic Growth for all Americans. We will eliminate Taxes on Tips for millions of Restaurant and Hospitality Workers, and pursue additional Tax Cuts.

First, I should say: Kudos to the Republican party for actually proposing something that would directly help the working class! Ending taxation of tips may be the first GOP proposal I’ve seen in my lifetime that’s actually targeted toward the working class, and it suggests that their desire to become more of a working-class party isn’t purely lip service. Ending the tax on tips won’t have a huge impact, since restaurants and other tipped establishments will just lower wages and expect workers to make it up on tips, but it will lead to slightly higher take-home pay for service workers.

Also, the RNC is promising to expand the Child Tax Credit, which Biden tried and failed to do in a permanent manner. That’s good too.

But that having been said, I should reiterate that tax cuts are inflationary. Austerity will need to involve some tax hikes, and the Republicans still don’t seem willing to talk about that.

Next, there’s some MAGA-type stuff about trade deals and reshoring:

Republicans will continue forging an America First Trade Policy as set forth in Chapter 5, standing up to Countries that cheat and prioritizing American Producers over Foreign Outsourcers. We will bring our critical Supply Chains back home. President Trump turned American Trade Policy around, protecting U.S. Producers, and renegotiating failed agreements.

Trump did renegotiate some trade deals like NAFTA, but overall he was completely ineffectual at bringing supply chains back to the U.S., or boosting American manufacturing in general. So color me skeptical that the RNC has any better ideas here.

The RNC’s next idea is cheap energy, which I already discussed. Finally, they talk about supporting innovation in three areas: crypto, AI, and space:

Republicans will pave the way for future Economic Greatness by leading the World in Emerging Industries…Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and unAmerican Crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency. We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from Government Surveillance and Control…

We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology. In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing…

Under Republican Leadership, the United States will create a robust Manufacturing Industry in Near Earth Orbit, send American Astronauts back to the Moon, and onward to Mars, and enhance partnerships with the rapidly expanding Commercial Space sector to revolutionize our ability to access, live in, and develop assets in Space.

The crypto thing is a clear case of Republicans knowing which side their bread is buttered on. Crypto isn’t really an emerging industry, but boosting crypto demand is a way to quickly put large amounts of money directly into the pockets of many people in the tech industry. So if you see people in tech drifting to the GOP side these days, don’t be surprised. But crypto is going to run into local opposition from the electric power requirements, which become bigger the more Bitcoin goes up in price — and also from noise pollution from miners.

The AI thing is probably good; my impression is that Democrats pay too much attention to the “AI safety” people. If I’m wrong, and Skynet destroys us all because the U.S. government didn’t force AI companies to sign some pieces of paper insisting their models are safe, you can tell me I was dumb in the afterlife.

The space thing is good too.

What I don’t see here is any acknowledgement of the most important technological revolution happening right now — the shift from combustion to electricity. In fact, the Republicans seem set on slowing down this shift in America, which is a bad idea and will make energy more expensive. In general, Republicans need to understand the power of electricity.

Chapter Four: “Bring back the American dream and make it affordable again for families, young people, and everyone”
It’s great to see Republicans taking aim at the excessive cost of services in America! Let’s see what their ideas are for tackling this chronic problem. First, they talk about housing:

To help new home buyers, Republicans will reduce mortgage rates by slashing Inflation, open limited portions of Federal Lands to allow for new home construction, promote homeownership through Tax Incentives and support for first-time buyers, and cut unnecessary Regulations that raise housing costs.

All of these except for the tax incentives are great ideas, and very YIMBY. The tax incentives are bad because they’re a demand subsidy, not a supply expansion. In general, this plank reads exactly like something Democrats would come up with, which is a little surprising.

Next, the platform tackles education:

To reduce the cost of Higher Education, Republicans will support the creation of additional, drastically more affordable alternatives to a traditional four-year College degree.

This sounds like a great idea — and also something Biden has been calling for and trying to implement.

Next, healthcare (i.e. the biggest pain point in the whole U.S. economy):

Healthcare and prescription drug costs are out of control. Republicans will increase Transparency, promote Choice and Competition, and expand access to new Affordable Healthcare and prescription drug options. We will protect Medicare, and ensure Seniors receive the care they need without being burdened by excessive costs.

This again reads exactly like something Democrats would say, except for the “choice and competition” part. But I don’t think Republicans have any more ideas for bringing down health care prices than Democrats do. The way every other country does this is to have a national health insurer that pays for part of every treatment, and is therefore able to negotiate prices down. I don’t see anyone proposing this, sadly.

Chapter 5: “Protect American workers and farmers from unfair trade”
More Trump favorites in this section. First we have tariffs:

Our Trade deficit in goods has grown to over $1 Trillion Dollars a year. Republicans will support baseline Tariffs on Foreignmade goods, pass the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, and respond to unfair Trading practices. As Tariffs on Foreign Producers go up, Taxes on American Workers, Families, and Businesses can come down.

Tariffs are not the most effective policy in the world, but they do now seem to be bipartisan. I just hope they’re focused entirely on China. Fortunately, the RNC does single out China:

Republicans will revoke China’s Most Favored Nation status, phase out imports of essential goods, and stop China from buying American Real Estate and Industries…Republicans will bring critical Supply Chains back to the U.S., ensuring National Security and Economic Stability, while also creating Jobs and raising Wages for American Workers.

Revoking MFN just means imposing tariffs, which has already happened. Phasing out imports of essential goods and reshoring critical supply chains is a very interesting idea, and I’d like to hear more detail there. Biden has been talking about this a lot, but specific initiatives have been pretty limited so far.

The RNC also wants to protect the car industry, specifically:

Republicans will revive the U.S. Auto Industry by reversing harmful Regulations, canceling Biden’s Electric Vehicle and other Mandates, and preventing the importation of Chinese vehicles.

Except for the reversal of the EV mandate, this sounds exactly like what Democrats want. The EV mandate probably isn’t that important, since the shift to EVs is going to come from technological advances anyway.

The RNC also loves “Buy American” policies, much as Biden does:

Republicans will strengthen Buy American and Hire American Policies, banning companies that outsource jobs from doing business with the Federal Government.

In general, most of this entire section sounds like a traditional labor-left Democratic agenda. But there’s one big thing missing here: foreign markets. American companies can’t subsist on domestic demand alone; they need lots of overseas customers in order to thrive and to build up the scale necessary to challenge their Chinese rivals. The RNC hasn’t really thought yet about how to pump up American exports.

Chapter 6: “Protect seniors”
The GOP seems very intent on assuring seniors that it will protect their government benefits:

President Trump has made absolutely clear that he will not cut one penny from Medicare or Social Security. American Citizens work hard their whole lives, contributing to Social Security and Medicare. These programs are promises to our Seniors, ensuring they can live their golden years with dignity. Republicans will protect these vital programs and ensure Economic Stability. We will work with our Great Seniors, in order to allow them to be active and healthy. We commit to safeguarding the future for our Seniors and all American families…

Social Security is a lifeline for millions of Retirees, yet corrupt politicians have robbed Social Security to fund their pet projects. Republicans will restore Economic Stability to ensure the long-term sustainability of Social Security…

Republicans will protect Medicare’s finances from being financially crushed by the Democrat plan to add tens of millions of new illegal immigrants to the rolls of Medicare. We vow to strengthen Medicare for future generations…

Republicans will shift resources back to at-home Senior Care, overturn disincentives that lead to Care Worker shortages, and support unpaid Family Caregivers through Tax Credits and reduced red tape.

Other than a swipe at immigrants, this sounds like something Democrats would write!

Protecting and expanding seniors’ benefits is fine and good. But it’s also expensive — as the country ages, supporting ever-increasing benefits for seniors on the backs of a shrinking number of working-age Americans will get fiscally harder and harder. I haven’t seen either party really grapple with this yet. And the GOP is worse here, because cutting immigration will mean an even smaller workforce to support the elderly.

Chapter 7: “Cultivate great K-12 schools leading to great jobs and great lives for young people”
Republicans want to end teacher tenure and implement merit pay:

Republicans will support schools that focus on Excellence and Parental Rights. We will support ending Teacher Tenure, adopting Merit pay, and allowing various publicly supported Educational models.

This is a great idea. It will definitely improve education. It will also cost money. That money will have to be raised at the state and local level, which means higher taxes. Are Republicans prepared for that?

The RNC also supports “universal school choice” (not sure what that means), and support for homeschooling. I’m not sure either of those has much of an effect, though I do think charter schools have done fairly well for poor and disadvantaged kids. So I hope the RNC is thinking about supporting charters here, instead of just handing parents cash to put their kids in some random private school.

The rest of this section is just a bunch of cultural stuff — End critical race theory! Restore parental rights! Increase school discipline! Teach about the greatness of Western Civilization! — followed by a promise to abolish the Department of Education in order to return power over education to the states. Well if you get rid of the Department of Education, what kind of policy levers will the federal government have to stop CRT or improve discipline or teach about Western Civilization or whatever? None that I know of. So these objectives seem to conflict, and thus I interpret most of this as sort of boilerplate rhetoric.

(Note: The RNC also repeats the assertion, common on all sides of the political spectrum, that America’s public schools are failing. This is false. American schools, in general, are just fine.)

Chapter 8: “Bring common sense to government and renew the pillars of American civilization”
This section is mostly sort of a grab bag of stuff about patriotism and American pride, mixed with culture-war stuff, various boilerplate rhetoric, and some random swipes at illegal immigrants:

Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents. We will end policies that punish families…

Republicans will reassert greater Federal Control over Washington, DC to restore Law and Order in our Capital City, and ensure Federal Buildings and Monuments are well-maintained…

Republicans will end luxury housing and Taxpayer benefits for Illegal Immigrants and use those savings to shelter and treat homeless Veterans. We will restore Trump Administration reforms to expand Veterans' Healthcare Choices, protect Whistleblowers, and hold accountable poorly performing employees not giving our Veterans the care they deserve…

Republicans condemn antisemitism, and support revoking Visas of Foreign Nationals who support terrorism and jihadism. We will hold accountable those who perpetrate violence against Jewish people…

Republicans support the restoration of Classic Liberal Arts Education…

Republicans will promote beauty in Public Architecture and preserve our Natural Treasures. We will build cherished symbols of our Nation, and restore genuine Conservation efforts…

Republicans celebrate our Great American Heroes and are proud that the Story of America makes everyone free. We will organize a National Celebration to mark the 250th Anniversary of the Founding of the United States of America.

In general this is all either fine or meaningless. Some of the concrete proposals here are things the federal government doesn’t actually have control over. The others are either symbolic, or vague. It’s good to see patriotic rhetoric, but it’s also kind of expected from the RNC; I’m more interested in seeing what the Democrats have to say here.

The strong stand on antisemitism is interesting, given that antisemitism has become very prominent on the Republican-leaning social media platform formerly known as Twitter. I wonder if the GOP can be persuaded to take an interest in that.

Finally, this section has an endorsement of law & order and support for the police:

Republicans will restore safety in our neighborhoods by replenishing Police Departments, restoring Common Sense Policing, and protecting Officers from frivolous lawsuits. We will stand up to Marxist Prosecutors, vigorously defend the Right of every American to live in peace, and we will compassionately address homelessness to restore order to our streets.

This is pretty vague on specifics; it’s not clear if the RNC endorses a Biden-style plan to put more cops on the streets.

Chapter 9: “Government of, by, and for the people”
This section consists of institutional and culture-war stuff, much of it either symbolic rhetoric or some version of “appoint conservatives to government positions”. One notable substantive piece concerns trans rights:

We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.

I don’t expect this to create much of a backlash — just as Biden’s policies didn’t create much of a backlash either. I don’t think most Americans are deeply invested in the fights over gender reassignment surgeries or women’s sports. But I do think that the tide of American public opinion seems to generally be on the Republicans’ side here.

Another substantive piece is about abortion:

We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).

This is actually pretty reasonable and not extreme at all. In general, the GOP has been alienating the country with state-level abortion bans, and by appointing judges that killed Roe v. Wade. And more recently, some conservatives have sparked alarm among women by coming out against IVF and contraception. So it’s good to see the national RNC adopting a more reasonable, moderate position there.

A final substantive piece concerns elections:

We will implement measures to secure our Elections, including Voter ID, highly sophisticated paper ballots, proof of Citizenship, and same day Voting. We will not allow the Democrats to give Voting Rights to illegal Aliens.

This is going to be very contentious, but in the end it’s going to end up with Republicans shooting themselves in the foot a little bit. Neither the GOP nor the Dems seem to have realized that the marginal voter is now a Republican, meaning that making it harder for people to vote now tends to help Democrats. I’ll have a guest post about this soon, but basically, be careful what you wish for.

Chapter 10: “Return to peace through strength.”
The final “chapter” is the foreign-policy piece of the platform. It studiously avoids mentioning either Russia or Ukraine by name. In general, it’s a Reaganite platform aimed at countering China:

Keeping the American People safe requires a strong America. The Biden administration's weak Foreign Policy has made us less safe and a laughingstock all over the World. The Republican Plan is to return Peace through Strength, rebuilding our Military and Alliances, countering China, defeating terrorism, building an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, promoting American Values, securing our Homeland and Borders, and reviving our Defense Industrial Base. We will build a Military bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. Our full commitment is to protecting America and ensuring a safe and prosperous future for all…

Republicans will ensure our Military is the most modern, lethal and powerful Force in the World. We will invest in cuttingedge research and advanced technologies, including an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield, support our Troops with higher pay, and get woke Leftwing Democrats fired as soon as possible…

Republicans will strengthen Alliances by ensuring that our Allies must meet their obligations to invest in our Common Defense and by restoring Peace to Europe. We will stand with Israel, and seek peace in the Middle East. We will rebuild our Alliance Network in the Region to ensure a future of Peace, Stability, and Prosperity. Likewise, we will champion Strong, Sovereign, and Independent Nations in the Indo-Pacific, thriving in Peace and Commerce with others…

Our Industrial Base is critical to ensuring good jobs for our people but also the reliable production of vital Defense platforms and supplies. Our Policy must be to revive our Industrial Base, with priority on Defense-critical industries. Equipment and parts critical to American Security must be MADE IN THE USA…

Republicans will use all tools of National Power to protect our Nation’s Critical Infrastructure and Industrial Base from malicious cyber actors. This will be a National Priority, and we will both raise the Security Standards for our Critical Systems and Networks and defend them against bad actors.

Most of this is pretty good stuff, especially the rhetoric about the defense-industrial base. Not sure what the GOP plans to do in order to modernize the defense-industrial base, but Reagan actually did do a decent job of this back in the day, and the GOP is more likely to boost defense spending than the Democrats are. The mention of cybersecurity is also very important.

I like the emphasis on alliances. And I really like the mention of “strong, sovereign, and independent nations in the Indo-Pacific” — a focus on territorial integrity, strong alliances, and the Indo-Pacific region is exactly the theme I’ve been been calling for U.S. foreign policy to center itself around. Great stuff. I’m not as happy about the secondary focus on the Middle East, but I guess that’s inevitable.

The big unanswered question here is “What about Ukraine?”. There’s a fierce internal fight going on within the GOP between those who view Russia as the enemy of Western Civilization and those who view it as a friend and ally against international liberalism. Obviously the RNC decided not to take sides in that fight.

But anyway, I’m very happy to see Republicans hitting almost all of the right notes on foreign policy here. The big question, of course, is whether they can get Trump to go along with this plan. On that score, I’m not optimistic.

In fact, that’s my general verdict on this entire RNC platform. The national-level GOP has improved on policy by leaps and bounds — refocusing on economics, taking more reasonable positions on culture wars, and triangulating some of Democrats’ ideas. If the party were actually being led by someone who was on board with this agenda — a Reagan-type figure — I’d be much more optimistic about the next four years.

Sadly, it is not.