My take on recent sentiment on the American right:

Republicans used to prioritise community. Reagan Republicans used to keep 'family values' central to their policy.

Nowadays you can boil many of their issues down to one thing:

The individual vs the community.

Take 'diversity policies' which are very much to the chagrin of modern Republicans.

The core of their claim is that the system isn't merit based anymore.

However, if a diverse candidate adds more to the workplace than a candidate who is better on paper, surely the diversity..

..candidate adds more to the community?

Modern Republicans focus on the unfairness to the individual vs the gain to a widespread organisation.

Another example would be 'anti-maskers', comprising a significant fraction of Republican politicians.

Their focus appears to be on the inconvenience to the individual mask-wearer, as opposed to the gain to the entire community.

Again, not very 'family values'.

As someone who has sympathy for some conservative viewpoints, IMO this is the first area Republicans need to address.

In a nation where communities are breaking apart across cultural, political and economic lines, focusing on the value of one's community could be a significant route to long-term electoral advantages.

You do not always need to be the party of 'sticking it to the authority'.

I may be wrong but I think there would be significant gains to be had from returning more to the conservatism of old.

This doesn't mean scrapping the entire policy stance, it's more a question of framing.

The question to ask voters IMO is not:

'How can we stick it to the authority?' - sympathy for that point of view is growing tired.

It is 'how can our policies strengthen our communities and help us feel united as Americans?'

This might allow the Reps to gain on the Dems.