This is an important development. Our nation needs at least two sensible political parties. A two-party system with vigorous third parties is healthy for our democracy.
When one of our two major parties is captured by an extremists cult, it’s a very bad sign. When that cult revels in cutting ties with our historic allies, in brutalizing immigrants and even citizens who look like immigrants (brown skin color), in sending troops to American cities, in killing people on boats that might or might not be transporting drugs instead interdicting them, in abandoning civil rights laws, and in treating the president as a king to be obeyed and worshipped, that cult is not a normal participant in American politics because it is not bound by the Constitution.
Thus, in my opinion, it is very good news that sane conservatives are abandoning the Heritage Foundation–whose leader was the architect of Project 2025–and joining forces with Mike Pence.
Pence is a conservative through and through, and I disagree with him on most issues. But in 2020, he refused Trump’s direct order to join the insurrection by refusing to certify Biden’s election. Pence certified Biden’s election and was reviled by MAGA for following the Constitution, not Trump. They chanted “Hang Mike Pence” on January 6, 2021, and even built a scaffold outside the U.S. Capitol. Trump shrugged with indifference, and the mob searched for Pence.
Politico wrote about the splintering at the Heritage Foundation.
More than a dozen staffers at The Heritage Foundation are leaving the conservative think tank to join a nonprofit led by former Vice President Mike Pence as the embattled organization continues to reel from ongoing turmoil.
Advancing American Freedom — founded by Pence in 2021 “to defend liberty and advance policies that build a stronger America” — announced Monday that three senior officials who led the legal, economic and data teams at Heritage would be joining the group next year, along with several members of their teams.
This is good news for the conservative Republican Party and good news for our democracy. Genuine conservatives can’t abide the extremism of MAGA.
I’ll be watching to see what Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger do in the future.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
While I wholeheartedly agree that a split in the Heritage Foundation is a positive, I wonder why it took so long. If Jan 6 did not do it, why now?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Political winds can blow so furiously that even supposed conservatives, and I say supposed because the Rethugs from Gingrich on have been regressive/reactionary, can feel them. Pence does a better job at obscuring that fact
LikeLike
Hopefully, political winds are blowing in fact.
LikeLike
Even though I disagree with Pence on most issues, I do give him credit for standing firm on Jan. 6th against Trump and for the rule of law. He is not just another member of the GOP criminal clan. He is also against the lawlessness of The Heritage Foundation, a group that is working to overturn democracy. If Pence helps divide and weaken the GOP coalition, it is a win for all of us, IMO.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do not know what Liz Cheney is doing, but Adam Kinzinger is active all over the place. I follow him on YouTube, but that isn’t the only place he’s active.
Here’s the website for the movement he founded.
“Founded in the wake of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, Country First stands as a clarion call to every American who believes our democracy is worth saving. Launched by former U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Country First is the nation’s leading pro-democracy movement—rallying citizens across the political spectrum to put country over party, principle over partisanship. Through bold public awareness campaigns and transformative civic education, we are mobilizing the Reasonable Majority to rise, reclaim their voice, and drive grassroots action that renews the very soul of our republic.
“This is not just a moment. It is a movement—for our children, our country, and the future we dare to believe in.
“Join us. Stand up. Speak out.
The fight for America’s democracy begins with you.”
About – Country First
LikeLike
This is an excellent development–honest, decent Republicans turning down and turning away from fascism in their Grand Old Party–the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. When the Trump regime began I said the only things that could stop it would come from within the conservative sphere–the courts, decent Republicans, and military leaders refusing to obey orders that violate their oaths to the Constitution.
LikeLike
I agree, Jack. I’m old enough to remember when Republicans believed in small government. They were community-minded and devoted to stability. They would be appalled by Trump–by his grifting, by his indifference to the law and the Constitution, by his gross behavior and language, by his unbridled narcissism.
LikeLike