[Auracle]

I'm in a fairly purple state and I don't consider myself a Republican, a Democrat, or even a moderate. I have some views that align with one party and some that align with another.

If anything, the right has largely shifted to the center over the course of my life. For example: they, along with Democrats for quite a while, were opposed to gay marriage. While I'm sure there's still a small contingent that would roll that back if they could it's very much not an issue for the party anymore.

The left, or at least a good portion of the democratic party? They've gone off the rails in the past 10+ years. Everything is now about race or sex. Everything. It's 100% OK to discriminate against white men. We should have open borders. Abortion should be legal up until birth. Prepubescent children should be allowed to go on hormone blockers and get surgery if they think they're trans. Transwomen should be able to compete against women in sports. The Kavanaugh confirmation was a disgusting point in US history. Let's ban guns. The list could go on.

From what I see, Republicans largely want things to stay the same or be rolled back by a decade or so.

[teachrdan]

> If anything, the right has largely shifted to the center over the course of my life

The Republican party is vastly more anti-abortion and anti-gun control now than in the past. It is mainstream in the GOP to talk about punishing women who get abortions. And in New York, a Republican congressman who said he'd vote for gun control in the wake of a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, in addition to the one in Texas faced so much backlash from his party he had to quit politics.

I think what you've fallen for is a rhetorical trick Republican politicians use. They say, "Of course Roe vs Wade is settled law." And then they tirelessly work to undermine it, which is exactly what's happening right now.

> From what I see, Republicans largely want things to stay the same or be rolled back by a decade or so.

If what you said is true, the GOP would support the right to abortion and an assault weapons ban. Instead they are rolling back abortion rights by 50 years (Roe was decided in 1973) and expanding the "right" to purchase high powered firearms without background checks and carry them, concealed, without any training, to a degree literally never seen in US history.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/facing-backlash-republican-...

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/03/1096108319/roe-v-wade-alito-c...

[kcplate]

> The Republican party is vastly more anti-abortion and anti-gun control now than in the past

The converse of that statement is true too. The Democratic Party is vastly more pro-abortion and pro-gun control than in the past.

The two parties mirror their rhetoric on those two issues intentionally. Its literally impossible for one party to criticize the other on them, as they are both chosen as firebrands issues for their base. So if the GOP moves to the extreme on one, they are the cause for the democrats to move to the opposite extreme on the same issue and vice versa.

[tomaspollak]

It seems republicans have moved further to the right than democrats have to the left:

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/151975976283299430...

[archagon]

The Republican party has clearly demonstrated a desire and willingness to subvert democracy, decency, and rule of law to get into power.