I don't recognize your description of the political landscape. Republicans don't do any more to shrink government than Democrats do to expand it. This has never been true. They do have different priorities. Republicans think the government should be like your father who protects good citizens from harm by fighting bad citizens and foreign threats. Democrats think the government should be like your mother who nurtures and cares for all of its citizens.
As science and economics are showing us a mixture of father and mother turns out to work best, the political differences between Republicans and Democrats are shrinking every year. As a consequence, the parties feel it is necessary to distantiate themselves more and especially the Republicans have spent several decades creating a vast narrative around where their priorities lie. Unfortunately, this has led to big changes in voter's habbits and ideological perspectives.
Wealthy opportunists have helped promote and taken advantage of the narrative to push an agenda of lower taxes for the rich in return for lavish campaign funding. A group of people bought into the narrative too deeply and now think that the myths about taxes they heared over the years are the hard facts, and that Democrats have misguided beliefs. Supported by the wealthy opportunists, these people have taken control of the Republican party and its policies. This is a corruption that has taken many years to develop, but now runs deeply into the belief systems of voters and the wallets of politicians.
As science and economics are showing us a mixture of father and mother turns out to work best, the political differences between Republicans and Democrats are shrinking every year. As a consequence, the parties feel it is necessary to distantiate themselves more and especially the Republicans have spent several decades creating a vast narrative around where their priorities lie. Unfortunately, this has led to big changes in voter's habbits and ideological perspectives.
Wealthy opportunists have helped promote and taken advantage of the narrative to push an agenda of lower taxes for the rich in return for lavish campaign funding. A group of people bought into the narrative too deeply and now think that the myths about taxes they heared over the years are the hard facts, and that Democrats have misguided beliefs. Supported by the wealthy opportunists, these people have taken control of the Republican party and its policies. This is a corruption that has taken many years to develop, but now runs deeply into the belief systems of voters and the wallets of politicians.