One of our finest essayists, Joseph Epstein, had a column in The Wall Street Journal Oct. 10 in which he fantasized about a 2028 presidential race between Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

As Epstein put it, "As an independent voter, I could live with Mr. Thune or Mr. Shapiro as president. Both seem a welcome return to the political normality I--and how many like me?--crave. They are both presentable, articulate, serious. ... Neither man diddles away his days posting dopey messages online."

Epstein's desire for a return to normalcy featuring presidential candidates who are "thoughtful, scandal-free, honorable" is the most persistent and powerful sentiment I encounter when discussing politics with people these days.

There is a broad acknowledgement that something is broken with both our politics and our political parties' presidential nominating systems, to the point of producing frustration and demoralization among what is probably a majority of the electorate.

I would estimate that roughly 20 percent of the population falls into the MAGA category, another 20 percent, perhaps a bit less, into the "progressive/woke" category.

That leaves nearly two-thirds of us in the politically sane category, holding our noses and voting for a particular side only because of how........

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