Alexander Hamilton was an ambitious young striver and created an economy where people like him could rise and succeed. He used government to rouse the energies of the merchant class, to widen the circle of property owners and to dissolve the constraints on commerce and mobility.

Abraham Lincoln was another ambitious young striver. As a young politician, he championed roads, canals and banks so enterprising farm boys like himself could ascend and prosper. While he was president, the Republican Party passed the Homestead Act, which gave people access to property they could enrich and develop. It passed the Land Grant College Act, so the ambitious would have access to knowledge. It passed railroad legislation to open vistas for the young and aspiring.

Margaret Thatcher was another young striver. When she became prime minister, she gave the British working class access to homes and property so that they would become more industrious and independent.

You’d think that in this and every election, the Republicans would want to continue this tradition. You’d think that they’d start every election by putting themselves at the kitchen tables of middle-class families with ambitious kids. Their first questions would be: What are the barriers to their mobility? What concrete help do these people need to realize their dreams?