Bret Stephens wants the GOP to “get a grip” and “tone down the abortion extremism.” So let’s do a hypothetical exercise. Imagine that the 2012 Republican nominee believed in the rape, incest and life of the mother exceptions to abortion restrictions. Now let us further imagine that the same GOP nominee ran on a Wall Street Journal-approved “growth” plan involving marginal tax rate cuts for high earners. Surely this hypothetical Republican would wipe the floor with an incumbent Democrat presiding over a weak economy. Oh, wait a minute.
I get what Stephens is up to. It is obvious something has gone wrong and people in the center-right coalition are looking around to figure out what needs to change. Better to heap blame on the pro-lifers or else more people might notice that cutting taxes for high earners isn’t the answer for every political and economic situation.
