The Democrats are not a labor party anymore. They are an upscale liberal party.
We have gone back to the days of bourbon democracy, so enjoy the lip service and occasional trinkets they throw your way and don't be surprised if they also expect you to be grateful for it also.
So why do you identify as a Republican then
I am neither upscale, nor liberal.
The Democratic party is the heir to Burke and the Whigs in all but name, with a distaste for radicalism and inherent orthodoxy to procedure. You are too upscale for the Republicans y’know.
The Democratic Party is the heirs of Alton B. Parker and Bill Clinton.
You shouldn't confuse me for some grifting Never Trumper who has the temerity to call themselves a Lincolnite Republican without even knowing who Carey or List are, and adhering to the neoliberal consensus that would (if he were alive today) have regarded Lincoln as a back country idiot for his economic views, and not mention advancing the very foreign policy adventurism that Lincoln rejected when promoted by Seward and rejected when achieved by Polk.
I am not some limp wristed Rockefeller fan boy who despises the GOP because of it being composed by the wrong sort of people, and parrots the party flip theory for reasons for self validation for their social circle while dumping all of America's wrongs on their tribal opponents. "Your one of them, ain't ya". Yes, I am, in most any context you can think of "one of them", and yet not at the same time.
Yes, I disdain mass politics, but I also loath the establishment in this country that has not only sold themselves and our country out to special interests and foreign powers, but convinced themselves it was the best thing for the country in doing so.
Yes I disdain establishment corruption and self serving style, but I also loathe the angry swinish multitude for blinding allowing themselves to be used for the advancement of the latest round of con artists, swindlers and snake oil salesmen only to realize they were used and start the same process over again (the 1990s Republican Revolution, The Tea Party, and now the Trumpist movement are all good examples of this). I especially loathe the penchant for mob rule and disregard for the law.
I really don't care much as much about "decency and behaviors", though I do prefer people who have their lives put together or at least try to do so and don't cater to the societal promotion of the opposite. I do care about laws and processes simply because unchecked authority in anyone's hands is dangerous.
I am an establishmentarian without an establishment worthy of defending. I am a revolutionary without a people wanting of liberation. I am introspection brought to life and I do not feel ashamed. I am a living paradox and you wouldn't want me any other way.