Episode 214: Moderate Republicans

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the shrinking number of moderate Republicans in the GOP. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Where have all the moderate Republicans gone? Neil wrote about Susan Collins and the end of moderate Republicans in his column for The Week. Niki shared Geoffrey Kabaservice's book Rule and Ruin as the definitive history of moderate Republicans. Natalia discussed Ezra Klein's recent New York Times piece on the different effect polarization has had on both parties, an argument he expands in his new book, Why We're Polarized. Neil commented on how Republican suburban women have been moving away from the GOP during the Trump years, something he wrote about for the Atlantic in 2018. In our regular closing feature, What's Making History: Natalia discussed the controversy surrounding Jeanine Cummins' new book, American Dirt, and recommended the episode of "Latino USA" that discusses the controversy and Myriam Gurba's review of the book for Tropics of Meta. Neil recommended the new Netflix series, "Cheer." We discussed the history of cheerleading in Episode 125. Niki commented on Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s proposal for Virginia's border counties to join West Virginia, something being referred to as "Vexit."