Why Dems should worry about the state of the GOP

Michael Gerson's op-ed on the "pathetic" state of the GOP is spot-on.  I won't attempt an excerpt - you should read the whole thing.  The GOP's collapse as a principled, idea-driven party this election cycle should be cause for concern to liberals, not just conservatives.  Our political culture is so much more focused on winning than on governance, though, that it seems many on the left will continue to see the sorry state of the opposition as cause for glee rather than deep concern.

Our country needs a strong center-right party, and I am hopeful that one will emerge from the ruins. But we have to be candid in acknowledging the ruins before building again. I'm not making a point about the candidates' relative merits (though I have my own views on that topic as well). My point is that the country is better off with a strong center-right party that champions the ideals, priorities, and virtues that have been associated with the GOP over the past few decades. Even those who are on the left should recognize that we're stronger as a nation with an opposition party that pushes back with a different but principled perspective. If the GOP nominee would have been a person who upheld that tradition, Hillary would not be coasting to victory right now. Political parties are important counterweights that make the opposition's ideas better, align ultimate policy more closely with public opinion, and help avoid overreach in governance. That's obviously not happening this year.  And there really isn't any comparison between the candidates on this front: Hillary is nowhere close to my first choice, but she hasn't played the same type of corrosive role in upending the Dems' traditional positions and priorities that Trump has within the GOP.  Trump seems incapable of carrying on an idea-driven conversation for more than 30 seconds, and that will result in a Clinton administration implementing ideas that have faced little or no reasoned opposition on the national stage.  That's bad news for her presidency and for the country.