To the Editor:

David Brooks says that Republicans have lost touch with independent voters and attributes this loss of confidence to the party’s “liberty vs. power” approach. He advises a “security leads to freedom” paradigm.

But this change will not convince many voters, because without a sense of equality, there can be neither security nor freedom.

The electorate understands that the G.O.P. cannot meet its need for equality, economic and civil, because it represents the economically privileged at the expense of the majority.

The Bush policies have eroded the middle class’s sense of equality. As this becomes more obvious, the Republicans’ popularity will sink further. The question now is: Can the Democratic Party return to its New Deal roots?

Thomas M. Stephens
Columbus, Ohio, March 30, 2007

Note from KBJ: Equality of what? The Republican Party is committed to equality of opportunity, which is the only sort of equality that is compatible with a free society. Equality of resources, equality of income, equality of wealth, and equality of outcomes are incompatible with a free society. They are also incompatible with prosperity, as every student of history knows.