Some on the right might argue that today’s center column should be on the left. That argument would seem to fully surrender the GOP to Donald J. Trump’s nationalistic MAGA philosophy. 

But not every old-fashioned, conservative Republican has given up quite yet. Consider his former vice president, Mike Pence, who last week revealed he has the backbone to endorse incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia for re-election, though Kemp has teed off Trump sufficiently for him to endorse rival David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia who lost to Democrat Jon Ossof in the state’s January 2021 runoffs. 

Those of us at The Hustings would like to believe that a return to good old-fashioned free-market capitalist conservatism will find its foothold in the GOP and stomp out what clearly appear to be MAGA’s authoritarian tendencies. Yes, we are still trying to be even-handed and fair, but we are also fervently pro-democracy.

You may feel differently. The right column is always open to pro-Trump arguments so long as they are civil, not personal (no trolling allowed – this is not Elon Musk’s vision of Twitter) and do not try to pass off falsehoods as fact (these rules apply equally to all sides).

If you’re that other sort of modern Republican – the never-Trumper sort – your comments are welcomed for the right column as well. If you consider yourself liberal or progressive, we’d like to post your comments in this column. Please tell us in which column you belong, based on your overall philosophy rather than a position on a single issue, by listing yourself as “left” or “right” in the subject line. Email editors@thehustings,news.

--T.L.