Brain-dead nostalgia could doom GOP

By Michael Medved

Sinking approval ratings show the Republican Party losing touch with the public by peddling simple-minded nostalgia for the past.

A recent Pew survey shows 70 percent of self-identified “Conservative Republicans” agreeing with the statement: “Compared with 50 years ago, life for people like me is worse.” That’s ridiculous: in 1966, we endured rising — not falling — crime, major riots devastated our cities, hundreds died each week in Vietnam and we faced top tax rates of 70 percent.

Today, medical care and life expectancy have vastly improved, college enrollment has increased 400 percent, average homes are 150 percent larger, and the “Evil Empire” of the Soviet Union has been consigned to the ash heap of history. Young people and black people know it’s absurd to view all change as negative — nearly 80 percent of them say life’s gotten better, not worse in the last 50 years.

“Make America Great Again” is a slogan that promotes pessimism about the present and air-brushes the past, while alienating young and diverse votes the GOP needs.