The Parkview Institute

Appearance · November 9, 2026

John Tamny on The Vince Coakley Radio Program

John Tamny joins Vince Coakley on WBT Charlotte to talk about his argument that Republicans win when they act like Republicans.

Listen to the full episode on WBT

John Tamny

“The Vince Coakley Radio Program 11-9-26,” The Vince Coakley Radio Program with Vince Coakley, published November 9, 2026 on WBT Charlotte. John’s conversation starts at 27:07.

About the conversation

Vince Coakley invited John Tamny onto his WBT Charlotte program on November 9 to talk about John’s RealClearMarkets essay, “When Democrats Run Against Democrats, Democrats Always Win.”

John’s argument is that the problem was never Republican ideas. Republicans win when they act like Republicans, and Americans who love prosperity do not like politicians meddling in it. As he puts it, Republicans would never accept that kind of big government from a Democrat.

He is optimistic about what comes next. Failure, he says, is your friend: it will make Republicans think about who they are, and voters will rediscover why they love them. The open question is whether, once back in favor, they will govern like Republicans again.

Read John’s essay, “When Democrats Run Against Democrats, Democrats Always Win” →

More about John Tamny →

What John said

  1. What went wrong

    Republicans win when they act like Republicans.

    At 27:51 in the episode

  2. What went wrong

    It’s just when politicians pretend they’re Republicans, but act like Democrats, and that’s what Donald Trump did.

    At 28:10 in the episode

  3. Big government

    We would never accept such big government from a Democrat. In fact, we would be up in arms about a Democrat acting this way, so why not be up in arms about Trump?

    At 28:17 in the episode

  4. Trump

    I think there’s a lot to like about Trump. I think I could make a reasonable case that he’s the most honest person who’s ever been in the White House.

    At 29:03 in the episode

  5. Prosperity

    But Americans also, they love prosperity, and they don’t like politicians meddling in that, and Trump proved a meddler.

    At 29:29 in the episode

  6. Prosperity

    Why do we get up in the morning? We get up so that we can get things.

    At 29:38 in the episode

  7. What comes next

    Failure’s your friend. This is going to make Republicans think about who they are.

    At 30:26 in the episode

  8. What comes next

    Republicans are so good in the opposition because that’s when they most act like Republicans.

    At 30:35 in the episode

  9. Work

    We love people who love work.

    At 31:58 in the episode

Listen to the full episode on WBT