This is hilarious article.
As we saw this weekend, Trump has a 100% approval rating in the Republican Party outside of the True Cons wing. Social conservatism is the glue that holds the Trump coalition together. It is also the thing that repels the True Cons wing which is moderate/liberal on that issue.
“Non-Trumpers’ reasons for rejecting Trump are clear: Ethically, he is immoral and his administration was corrupt. As a leader, he attracted political allies who are sycophantic, untalented, and even delusional, while repelling the high-minded, accomplished, and the sensible …”
Who exactly did Trump repel though?
Did he repel the people whose legacy is a bloated oligarchy and the greatest level of income inequality since the Gilded Age? Did he repel the people who catered to millionaires and billionaires? Did he repel the people whose trade policies gutted the American Heartland? Did he repel the people who blundered us into the Iraq War? Did he repel the people who kept the borders open to illegal immigration for forty years? Did he repel the people who allowed political correctness to spread like a cancer through our universities? Did he repel the people who presided over forty years of cultural degeneration? Did he repel the people who share the same cosmopolitan and modernist values of the progressive Left?
“As a policymaker, he was ambivalent about—and sometimes was openly hostile to—core principles of American conservatism and Republicanism …”
Those were precisely the things that made Trump popular though. The core principles of American conservatism and Republicanism are less popular than Trump. Mitch McConnell is far less popular than Trump. True Cons ideology resonates with 15% of Republican voters.
“And as a party boss, he was the first president since Herbert Hoover to oversee his party’s loss of both houses of Congress and the White House in just four years. …”
Whose fault is that though?
Republicans lost control of the House because Paul Ryan’s Better Way agenda sucked. It was the True Cons policies on health care and tax cuts that were unpopular and which were the electoral albatross. The obsession with Obamacare repelled Obama-Trump voters. Similarly, Mitch McConnell lost the Senate because he opposed $2,000 stimulus checks which had the support of 80% of American voters!
“Those failings extend beyond Trump to the party and movement he leads, as well as the ambitious younger politicians—e.g., Josh Hawley, Nikki Haley, Ted Cruz, Mike Pompeo—who aspire to succeed him. Instead of acknowledging Trumpism’s failings and recalibrating party policies and politics to make them more successful, the Trumpian Republican party is in full denial of his and its failures and what they portend for the future. If this continues long-term, the Trump GOP will decline as a major national party. …”
Really?
Is there any proof of this? What do Trump voters care about? Immigration and political correctness are by far the two biggest winning issues for Republicans along with things like gun rights.
What are the priorities of Trump voters?
“Has a free market economy” is 24 out of 55.
“Government has a balanced budget” is 34 out of 55.
“Is the leader of the free world” is 41 out of 55.
“Engages in free trade with foreign countries” is 44 out of 55.
“Is the most admired country in the world” is 50 out of 55.
“Is open to immigration” is 52 out of 55.
“Enforces international laws around the globe” ranks 53 out of 55.
It is true that Trumpism has major failings. Those major failings are entirely due to overly accommodating the True Cons wing of the party which is out of step with the mainstream on taxation, health care, the environment and lots of other issues. In contrast, Independents agree with the Trump wing or populist wing of the Republican Party on economics, foreign policy and immigration. Trump voters are the moderates in the Republican Party, not the so-called “center right” wing.
The way to improve Trumpism is to trade the Red Dogs to the Democrats and replace them with Left Populists who share our views on economics and foreign policy and dislike of neoliberal elites.
The only thing that put me off about President Trump was that he did not do half of what he said he would.
That said, he still was a better president than what we’ve had for decades, which is why I resolutely followed my prayer life and voted for him.
In any case, I think we would have won with Trump being reelected, and, all pain of the election debacle aside, it seems we are winning even bigger with President Biden, as he does more to mint Awakened Whites every day than any other.
You’re underestimating how many people simply think he’s a retard/ineffective
Why would a conservative who doesn’t care for the Trump personality cult still love Trump? Society is way more left wing now than 5 years ago, and Trump had no victories for the non-fiscal aspects of conservatism. The Bill Kristol types are irrelevant but the people I’m referring to are not
“high-minded, accomplished, and the sensible”
Lol. Conservatives need to learn a little modesty. First step is admitting that they are none of these things.
It’s pretty clear in retrospect that Trump was a lot better a politician than he was a leader. He hired and kept people around who were working against his administration. None of the people who spied on him and lied to FISA courts were ever indicted. The only guys who ever went to jail were the ones who worked for him, like Roger Stone and Manafort. Bill Barr should have been fired long ago, to name just one.
With Washington chuck full of people who didn’t want Trump or anyone like him close to power, this may have sounded easier than it was.
@Copperhead…
“It’s pretty clear in retrospect that Trump was a lot better a politician than he was a leader. ”
I totally agree with that analysis, and it is troubling that that President Rrump might get into office again in 2024, not because he would not have the right intentions, but, because when it comes to management he is a bit of a bumbler.