conservative concepts, not actual Republican policies, because the same disease has caught on here. Conservative governments come in and destroy things, circumvent our court system (which isn't as political, but they have also have an escape hatch you guys don't have which you're supposed to never use... and yet!), enrich their friends and degrade all our services to try and get the electorate to support privatization. They're also heavily encouraging hate groups. It's awful.
I was talking to my brother the other night because a SZer friend of mine had found a bunch of articles about my grandfather, who worked for the city in a high-profile job. And I know my grandfather was Tory (conservative, for the uninitiated), but while he talks a lot about "good fiscal management" he's also building things for public use that are still here today. And the provincial government he was voting for built schools, colleges and universities. They actually did make investments, they did provide services, they did things that made people's lives better. When I was growing up, you could be a "red Tory" (socially progressive, fiscally conservative) and not only have a person to vote for but someone to elect. A friend of mine considers herself a red Tory but she has no one to vote for because the right have gone so far RIGHT and is openly racist, homophobic and dishonest.
Anyway. Sorry. That was a rant. I've tried to detach a bit from US politics because Canada's also struggling a ton, but man is it scary. My father's even turned on Trump. Though maybe that's a sign of hope.