Steering The Poor To The GOP

Tyler Cowen on Ross and Reihan's new book:

The broader vision is that the Republicans can and must find a way to be more friendly to the non-rich.  Personally I don't see any reason to tie all of this to the Republican Party but I agree with most of their proposals...The deep question is why something like this hasn't already happened.  You'll find the superficial "Republicans are just pro-corporate crooks" answer from bloggers like Kathy G.  Another possibility is that Republicans don't get much electoral credit for pro-poor initiatives (just as many voters simply won't believe that "Democrats can be tough").  The more competitive political messaging becomes, the more this constraint binds and so the policies of upward redistribution are more likely to be enacted by Republicans in the resulting political equilibrium.  If the authors are to get their way somehow this dynamic must be reversed.