jimnyc
11-17-2019, 02:03 PM
The future of the Republican party after Trump. I think we will be left in a good direction that can be built upon in many different ways. But of course if the Dems are in charge, altogether different ballgame.
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What Do Republican Voters Want?
Column: Rising GOP stars play pin the tail on the elephant
The latest entry in the post-Trump conservatism sweepstakes was Marco Rubio's speech at the Catholic University of America in early November. The Florida senator made the case for a "common-good capitalism" that looks on markets in the light of Catholic social thought. "We must remember that our nation does not exist to serve the interests of the market," he said. "The market exists to serve our nation."
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri shares many of the same attitudes. He told the inaugural "National Conservatism" conference in July that the "cosmopolitan consensus" dominating our politics "abandons the idea of the republic altogether" and leaves us "with the curse of faction." To "rebuild our sense of shared purpose and belonging," he went on, Republicans "must protect our communities of faith," while "encouraging capital investment in the great American middle," "investing in research and innovation in the heartland of this country," and "challenging the economic concentration that stifles small producers and family enterprises."
Rubio and Hawley are the standard-bearers of a shift against markets among some quarters of the right. They want to integrate the lessons of 2016 into a policy agenda for the years after President Trump leaves office. They point to a possible direction for American conservatism. But they should have no illusions. The agenda they propose for the future bears little relation to the Republican Party of the present.
I worry that conservatives will commit themselves to a misreading of the political terrain. There always has been danger in over-interpreting the results of Trump's plurality victory in the primaries and a razor-thin Electoral College victory in the general. Nor do social media encourage detached analysis. Abstract theories paraded on the Internet are easily mistaken for concrete realities. Republicans will be in trouble if they replicate the dilemmas of a Democratic Party imprisoned within its woke Twitter shell.
Rubio and Hawley speak for—and hope to appeal to—the segment of the electorate that the 2017 Pew Research Center political typology identified as "Market Skeptic Republicans." The senators' political logic: Market Skeptic Republicans are the fulcrum on which Trump's fate, and that of the GOP, depends.
Maybe.
On the other hand, Market Skeptic Republicans, who support increased taxes on corporations and say the system is rigged in favor of the rich, are just 12 percent of registered voters and 10 percent of the politically engaged (defined as registered voters who follow politics closely and participate in elections regularly).
Three other groups make up the GOP. "Core Conservatives" are traditional Republicans. "Country First Conservatives" are older than other GOP-leaning groups, have fewer bachelor's degrees, and oppose immigration and involvement overseas. "New Era Enterprisers" are younger, more diverse, pro-immigration, and pro-business.
Together, Core Conservatives and New Era Enterprisers comprise 26 percent of registered voters and 29 percent of the politically engaged. They provide the dominant Republican discourse. The Country First Conservatives and Market Skeptic Republicans supply the critique. As interesting and novel as this critique may be—and perhaps because it is so interesting and novel—it is easy to commit the fallacy of composition and mistake the market-skeptical part for the whole.
It might be argued that, because Core Conservatives and New Era Enterprisers are more reliable GOP constituencies, Market Skeptics are the ones Republicans have to court. But recent elections amply demonstrate that the party does not have a solid lock on college-degree-holding, suburban-dwelling Core Conservatives after all. On the contrary: It is the flight of these voters from the GOP that is responsible for Democratic victories in 2018 and 2019. A thriving party includes all four types.
Public opinion data reveal a Republican Party that, while highly supportive of President Trump, is wary of his behavior, ambivalent over his legacy, and consistent in its beliefs.
Rest - https://freebeacon.com/columns/what-do-republican-voters-want/
--
What Do Republican Voters Want?
Column: Rising GOP stars play pin the tail on the elephant
The latest entry in the post-Trump conservatism sweepstakes was Marco Rubio's speech at the Catholic University of America in early November. The Florida senator made the case for a "common-good capitalism" that looks on markets in the light of Catholic social thought. "We must remember that our nation does not exist to serve the interests of the market," he said. "The market exists to serve our nation."
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri shares many of the same attitudes. He told the inaugural "National Conservatism" conference in July that the "cosmopolitan consensus" dominating our politics "abandons the idea of the republic altogether" and leaves us "with the curse of faction." To "rebuild our sense of shared purpose and belonging," he went on, Republicans "must protect our communities of faith," while "encouraging capital investment in the great American middle," "investing in research and innovation in the heartland of this country," and "challenging the economic concentration that stifles small producers and family enterprises."
Rubio and Hawley are the standard-bearers of a shift against markets among some quarters of the right. They want to integrate the lessons of 2016 into a policy agenda for the years after President Trump leaves office. They point to a possible direction for American conservatism. But they should have no illusions. The agenda they propose for the future bears little relation to the Republican Party of the present.
I worry that conservatives will commit themselves to a misreading of the political terrain. There always has been danger in over-interpreting the results of Trump's plurality victory in the primaries and a razor-thin Electoral College victory in the general. Nor do social media encourage detached analysis. Abstract theories paraded on the Internet are easily mistaken for concrete realities. Republicans will be in trouble if they replicate the dilemmas of a Democratic Party imprisoned within its woke Twitter shell.
Rubio and Hawley speak for—and hope to appeal to—the segment of the electorate that the 2017 Pew Research Center political typology identified as "Market Skeptic Republicans." The senators' political logic: Market Skeptic Republicans are the fulcrum on which Trump's fate, and that of the GOP, depends.
Maybe.
On the other hand, Market Skeptic Republicans, who support increased taxes on corporations and say the system is rigged in favor of the rich, are just 12 percent of registered voters and 10 percent of the politically engaged (defined as registered voters who follow politics closely and participate in elections regularly).
Three other groups make up the GOP. "Core Conservatives" are traditional Republicans. "Country First Conservatives" are older than other GOP-leaning groups, have fewer bachelor's degrees, and oppose immigration and involvement overseas. "New Era Enterprisers" are younger, more diverse, pro-immigration, and pro-business.
Together, Core Conservatives and New Era Enterprisers comprise 26 percent of registered voters and 29 percent of the politically engaged. They provide the dominant Republican discourse. The Country First Conservatives and Market Skeptic Republicans supply the critique. As interesting and novel as this critique may be—and perhaps because it is so interesting and novel—it is easy to commit the fallacy of composition and mistake the market-skeptical part for the whole.
It might be argued that, because Core Conservatives and New Era Enterprisers are more reliable GOP constituencies, Market Skeptics are the ones Republicans have to court. But recent elections amply demonstrate that the party does not have a solid lock on college-degree-holding, suburban-dwelling Core Conservatives after all. On the contrary: It is the flight of these voters from the GOP that is responsible for Democratic victories in 2018 and 2019. A thriving party includes all four types.
Public opinion data reveal a Republican Party that, while highly supportive of President Trump, is wary of his behavior, ambivalent over his legacy, and consistent in its beliefs.
Rest - https://freebeacon.com/columns/what-do-republican-voters-want/