‘Trumpism’ Defined and the Future of the ‘Polished’ Populist GOP
CPAC 2021 has officially come to a close and former President Donald Trump delivered an epic 90-plus-minute speech. Putting to rest speculation he was out of the game, President Trump hinted he might run again. But on a second issue that many were curious about, he did more than hint: he straight up announced he had no interest in starting a third party to espouse the tenets of “Trumpism.” This assures that those who love him, his message, and the direction of the GOP hope for the next four years that are likely to be painful and frustrating for anyone who wants what is best for the United States of America.
“We are not starting a new party…we have the Republican Party [and] it is going to unite and be stronger than ever before,” Trump said. “I am not starting a new party; that was fake news. Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Let’s start a new party and divide our vote so you can never win? We are not interested in that.”
This point is quite important as many were wondering — within the establishment GOP as well as those who found a kindred spirit in the conservatism of Donald Trump — if there was room for the Trump faithful in the traditional GOP. If you’ve ever listened to Trump speak, one understand he speaks directly to and professes to work on behalf of, the voters themselves.
Establishment Republicans liken this to populism but do so in an insulting and condescending way. Trump’s base and those who are the reason for the party’s expansion the past four years believe it’s the way politicians should behave.
An interesting article from The Conversation indicates there may be room for ‘Trumpism’ in the established GOP, but a less in-your-face version of it. They call it “polished populism” and it’s, theoretically, a blending of the two.
The contemporary conservatism associated with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and George W. Bush in the 2000s has several facets and factions, but it can be summed up in the phrase, “You keep what you earn, it’s a dangerous world, and God is good.”
The economic, national defense and social conservatives of previous decades tended to agree that human nature is untrustworthy and society is fragile, so the U.S. needs to defend against external enemies and internal decline.
Populist conservatism accepts those views but adds something different: the interests and perceptions of “ordinary” people against “elites.” So populism rejects the notion of a natural aristocracy of wealth and education, replacing it with the idea that people it considers elites, including career politicians, bureaucrats, journalists and academics, have been promoting their own interests at the expense of regular folk.
This summary acknowledges what has happened to the Republican Party as it begins to adapt into the party of working class groups. Clearly, this is something Democrats have always considered to be in their purview. Democrats have improperly labeled the Republican party as ‘the party of Paris’ instead of the more apt ‘Party of Pittsburg.’.
One such GOP member has embraced this new direction and that is Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), for example — who have embraced this new direction. Others have rejected it. Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney comes to mind (she also happened to be one of a number of GOP politicians Trump named onstage at CPAC as members of the sitting GOP that should be repudiated).
The article within The Conversation illustrates the divide between each of these conservative approaches by framing the differences in terms of personality and rhetoric, specifically pointing our that Trump’s way of speaking breaks with tradition and embraces an effective but coarser use of language, “more like a guy in a bar.”
But when it comes to the policy preferences they’re nearly indistinguishable.
Polished populists take a different approach, arguing for the same policies that Trump did – limiting immigration, redistributing wealth toward the working class rather than just the poor, opposing the woke policies of social justice movements, promoting “America First” foreign and trade policies – but without his overtly antagonistic language.
Some Republicans are now arguing for a rejection of populism and a return to traditional conservatism. Those long-standing GOP priorities include limited government, strong national defense of American interests abroad, religious values and, perhaps most importantly, ordinary political personalities.
Fortunately, the country was provided the definition of “Trumpism” from Trump himself as he dominated the CPAC stage yesterday:
“Many people have asked: what is Trumpism?,’ he said. “What it means is great deals…not deals [that] give away our jobs. It means low taxes and eliminating job killing regulations. Trumpism means strong borders; people coming into our country based on a system of merit…it means no riots, industry; it means law enforcement. It means very strong protection for the 2nd Amendment, and the right to keep and bear arms. It means support for the forgotten men and women who were taken advantage of for so many years…it means a strong military, taking care of our vets. The mission of our movement and the Republican Party must be to create a future of good jobs, strong families, safe communities, [and] a vibrant and great nation for all Americans…our party is based on love for America and the belief that this is an exceptional nation, blessed by God.”
Ultimately, the future of the GOP is likely the one focused on a populist message but delivered in a traditionally, politically appropriate style. But if Trump’s speech at CPAC is any indication, the 45th POTUS is moving in the direction of a more polished populist direction personally. This means establishment Republicans must find another way to set themselves apart from Trump if they want to win GOP voters back to their style of communicating and, by extension, governing.
Content syndicated from TheLibertyLoft.com with permission.
You blew it in the first paragraph. The rightful President is not the cause of pain. How dare you put that on him. He did an amazing job while in office and if there had been a real election he would still be boistering us. But no the pain comes from those who choae to lie and deceive people into thinking usurper Joe, that dimwit wond the election. He and his evil minions are the cause of all the “pain and frustration for all those who want whats best for America. ” The Dems and Rhinos have sent our taxpayer dollars overseas. It is obvious that with the billions the congress sends overseas they have excess tax dollars to give away. Well hey whose money is it anyway. IT IS OUR MONEY NOT THEIRS. GIVE IT BACK TO US. WE DONT OWE A DARN THING TO FOREIGNERS.