In my view, the NeverTrump movement made sense during the primaries, but outlived its rationale after the nomination. However, I recently ran across an argument for a renewed NeverTrump movement that goes like this:
In 2019, evangelicals don't face the same dilemma they did in the 2016 general election. You can't justify a choice between the lesser of two evils if you did nothing to preempt the situation before it got to that point.
There's still time to replace Trump with Pence by calling on Trump to withdraw or–failing that–to support impeachment for obstruction of justice. We impeached Clinton for lesser crimes. If evangelicals refuse to make the effort now, don’t be surprised when people accuse you of putting political expediency ahead of Christian ethics.
That's an interesting argument. By way of response:
i) What if we call on Trump to withdraw and he refuses? What's fallback position in that eventuality? Sit out the election and let the Democrat nominee win (e.g. Sanders, Harris, Buttigieg, Warren)?
ii) Trump won because he was able to appeal to voting blocks conventional Republicans can't reach. I have no reason to think Pence could duplicate Trump's success in that regard.
iii) Pence chickened out the transgender issue as governor, so I'm not especially confident in Pence's culture warrior fortitude.
iv) I don't think Trump has done anything impeachable. Obstruction of justice is an indictment in search of a crime. As for Clinton, I always thought that was like getting Capone on tax evasion. "Tailgate" wasn't the worst thing Clinton did. It was just the one thing opponents might be able to nail him on. Keep in mind that the effort failed.
v) The base would punish Republican senators/Congressmen at the polls who cooperated with Democrats on impeachment.
vi) Politically, Trump cuts both ways. He's one of those figures whose strengths is his weakness. On the one hand he's a lightning rod in a way that Pence or Rubio wouldn't be. Moreover, Trump's instability is concerning. He's like a live grenade.
On the other hand, given the state of the culture wars, any GOP candidate who supports socially conservative policies will be controversial. Because Trump is a maverick, he's done a number of politically fearless things that more conventional social conservatives like Pence or Rubio probably lack the gumption to do. So in some ways I prefer Trump to Pence or Rubio, even though Trump is immature, because he's bolder than they are.
vii) As for the threat that evangelicals will be accused of putting political expediency ahead of Christian ethics, critics never listen to the argument. And we can't allow ourselves to be manipulated by disapproval. That's no way to make serious decisions. We shouldn't be so vain that we put our image ahead of protecting the innocent from the secular progressive jihad.
One thing that people rarely talk about is that Trump’s 2016 agenda was almost a direct pick-up from Patrick Buchanan in 1992 and the Tea Party in 2010. I think that too (in addition to Trump’s moral failings) is probably the larger reason that establishment Republicans became “NeverTrump”. But the fact that he is largely accomplishing what he set out to do, and on top of that, is significantly changing the federal judiciary for the better, is going to give historians something to bite on with this presidency — in ways that they haven’t bitten on since FDR. Reagan certainly changed direction for the country, but Trump’s presidency is more than just a change of direction; it is a watershed moment (given the recent rebirth of socialist sentiment).
ReplyDeleteTrump is bold and awesome. He’s done well so far
ReplyDeleteHis personality is simply direct and honest. I find his tweets hilarious rather than immature.
DeleteY'all don't follow Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert and probably the biggest name who predicted Trump winning the nomination then the Presidency?
DeleteHis Adams' whole rationale was that Trump was using 'weapons grade persuasion' in his speeches, quips and tweets. He knew how to manipulate a media which hated him.
Case in point: He tweets sometimes have typos or factual errors. The media cannot resist jumping on his 'ineptitude' and making headlines about it. Which serves to display his tweet's message to the wider public.
Case in point: Kellyanne Conway put her feet up on the Oval Office sofa!!! Here's photos to prove her lack of decorum!!! Meanwhile, the public gets to see Trump with the many smiling Black leaders who form the backdrop to Conway's 'slip-up'.
Now take this viewpoint and go look back at some of Team Trump's alleged gaffes - the terror attack in Sweden 'last night', or 'Bowling Green massacre' - and think about what was accomplished in the wider arena of public perception. There is a reason that 4chan and /r/The_Donald portray him as the 10-dimensional chessmaster.
I thought the biggest name who predicted Trump winning was the Democrat/progressive filmmaker Michael Moore. ;)
DeleteMy position on NeverHillary or indeed NeverDemocrats remains unchanged. In fact, it's only become a firmer position thanks to how increasingly radical the Democrat party moves away from any semblance of a moral center.
ReplyDelete