Something a little strange is happening inside the Republican Party. Not a revolution. Not a civil war. Not the great MAGA collapse some people on the left would love to announce every time a Republican clears his throat in Donald Trump’s direction. But there are cracks showing in places where, for most of the last decade, Republicans learned that cracks were dangerous. The cracks may be small, but for some Republicans, loyalty to Trump is starting to look a lot more expensiv

Picture a Republican candidate standing on a stage, juggling. Some of the objects are tennis balls. Communism. Trans athletes. Voter fraud. Crime. Immigration. “Woke” schools. These are familiar subjects, comfortable political terrain, the things Republican candidates know how to talk about. Republicans spent years tying themselves to Trump. Now they’re trying to keep MAGA loyal, win swing voters, defend the record, and change the subject, all without dropping the knives. But

A scam. A Ponzi scheme. A bill of goods. Those are not descriptions coming from anonymous Facebook accounts or fringe political activists. They are increasingly part of the way prominent Republicans talk about Social Security, one of the most successful and widely relied-upon programs the federal government has ever created. Senator Tommy Tuberville has called it a “government-approved Ponzi scheme.” Senator Ron Johnson has used similar language. And behind those insults is a

There is nothing wrong with faith. There is nothing wrong with prayer. There is nothing wrong with believing that religious values have made your life richer, your family stronger, or your community more compassionate. America has always been home to people of deep faith, and countless churches quietly feed the hungry, comfort the grieving, mentor children, and rebuild lives every single day. This isn't an argument against any of that. When politicians promise better outcomes

Republicans love the Constitution. They will tell you so at length, usually while holding a pocket-sized copy of it and speaking as though James Madison personally asked them to protect the republic from school librarians. They invoke the Founding Fathers, original intent, strict construction, states’ rights, limited government, and the sacred architecture of a constitutional republic. They say the word “Constitution” with the reverence normally reserved for scripture. The Co

There was a time when Republicans liked to describe themselves as the adults in the room. They were supposedly the party of responsibility, fiscal discipline, seriousness, and competent management. Whether you agreed with their policies or not, there was at least an argument that governing was their central focus. Looking at the current Republican primary for governor in Colorado, that argument has become increasingly difficult to make. When a governor's race starts looking m