As you can see above I made a compass for both the Democratic and Republican Parties based on what I see as their main deciding factors. For the Democrats, this is whether they should take an Aggressive or Restrained approach. As well as whether or not they should shift to the left as the Progressives want, or remain the same/shift to the right as the Establishment wants. For the Republicans, this is whether or not they should embrace economic populism (tariffs, not deficit concerned, anti-corporate rhetoric, and maybe some mild economically left and/or pro-labor policies). Or economic orthodoxy (free trade, pro-business, deficit hawk approach). As well as whether or not they should become America First (isolationist, anti-war), or Neoconservative (hawkish, pro-intervention).

Here is my explanation for each placement. Starting with the Democrats:

AOC: This one seems obvious, she is a firebrand Progressive.

Bernie: He is also a Progressive, but he often takes steps to court moderate and conservative voters by arguing that his policies are “not radical”. He also praised Trump on the border when he went on Tim Dillon.

Ro Khanna: Ro Khanna has literally coined the term “Blue MAGA” and advocates for the Democratic party to try and court over Populist Republicans by embracing Left-Populism and avoiding overly woke/far-left-coded rhetoric. I did consider swapping him and Bernie, but I decided not to.

Hunter Biden: He isn’t really a serious political figure (not yet anyway but you never know). However I figured he fit here. He isn’t really an Establishment Democrat or a Progressive. But  he has been aggressive against the Republicans from what I’ve seen of him.

Andy Beshear: A lot of people would say he is an Establishment Democrat. But his entire brand relies on him not being tied to the national Democratic establishment. He hasn’t gone very hard on Trump, but hasn’t been very friendly to him either. So I put him in the middle.

James Talarico: James Talarico’s brand relies on being disconnected to the national Democratic party while also being able to court both moderates and progressives. Due to campaigning in a red state in a nationalized race, he has had to work hard in courting Republicans and Independents. Henceforth, he goes below Beshear. I considered swapping him and Beshear, but once again decided to leave the placements as is.

Gavin Newsom: This one is pretty simple. Gavin Newsom is the ultimate resistlib candidate.

Pete Buttigieg: Buttigieg hasn't been as aggressive as Newsom, but he hasn't been totally restrained either. He seems to also lean heavily towards establishment politics.

Josh Shapiro: Josh Shapiro has both taken a restrained approach while leaning towards the Democratic establishment. (I don't have much to say for the establishment leaning candidates tbh)

Now, for the Republicans:

James Fishback: James Fishback has both taken some economically populist positions (like the OnlyFans tax) whilst also being an opponent of the Iran war and interventions in general. I could’ve put Tucker Carlson here, but Fishback represents the quadrant well enough. Even if he is a bit of a joke. 

Josh Hawley: Hawley has long been known for his economically Populist positions. However, he also has not come out in opposition to the Iran war. So I figured he would be the best fit for this quadrant.

Tom Cotton: Tom Cotton is very hawkish, but he has also proposed some mildly unorthodox economic policies. Such as an $11 per hour minimum wage. This was a tough one to categorize. But I think he is the closest fit we can get.

JD Vance: JD Vance has at least supposedly voiced some reservations about Iran, and is an opponent to aiding Ukraine. He has taken a middle road to economics, much like Trump has.

Donald Trump: Donald Trump is pretty much the center of gravity within the Republican party. Naturally, he goes in the center.

Marco Rubio: Despite has reputation seemingly being that of a Bush-era Neocon on both economics and foreign policy. Marco Rubio has aligned himself with organizations like American Compass. An economically Populist think tank. He is obviously a more hawkish voice in the Republican party on Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran however.

Thomas Massie: Once again, this is a bit of an unorthodox placement. But Thomas Massie is a free trader, deficit hawk, and strong proponent of free market policy in general. He is also a vocal opponent of intervention abroad.

Ron DeSantis: Ron DeSantis is a more traditional Conservative with economically orthodox views who has managed to strike a good balance in appealing to Florida's suburban boomer constituency as well as the terminally online young male constituency. So I decided to put him here.

Nikki Haley: Nikki Haley is basically just an early-2000s Bush era Republican. She is the best fit for this quadrant.

That was obviously a pretty big wall of text, and it took a while to write. You could probably notice how the later descriptions were less detailed, I got pretty exhausted from writing all this lol. I hope you found this informative and accurate. Cheers!

The Compasses of the Democratic and Republican Parties