Repeal and replace — The end of traditional conservatism
As a lifelong Republican and a former Fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, I have always preferred voting for the Republican and conservative candidate. Preferably, the candidate is both Republican and conservative, although that is not always the case. For only the second time in my life, I did not vote for the Republican presidential nominee: I found him neither Republican nor conservative. I know there are different strands of conservatism: classical, neo-cons, libertarians, religious and economic conservatives. I found Donald Trump to be none of the above. Trump did appeal to conservatives by supporting regulatory reform, lower taxes, unleashing the private sector and rolling back the administrative state. At the same time, Trump supported existing entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, which he called untouchable, and backed new entitlements like a paid family leave program. Until the election of Trump, Republicans venerated Ronald Reagan and his brand of conservatism. This included support for free trade, a centerpiece of conservative economic policy. Trump has denounced free trade by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership which conservatives uniformly backed. Trump also plans to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which Republicans helped to pass. Another litmus test for modern conservatism was for America to play a major role in world affairs. Reagan addressed the first Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting in 1974 and argued that America “cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so.” Reagan cited Pope Pius XII’s remarks after World War II that “Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of mankind.” Under Trump, American First has become the guiding philosophy. Republicans and conservatives have generally opposed entitlements and big government. Trump has made Social Security and Medicare untouchable, even though most conservatives believe these programs are not sustainable given the demographic changes in American society. Trump has called for a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, in addition to an expansive family leave policy. How do you pay for these entitlements and increase defense spending while cutting taxes? Shortly after being elected president, Trump helped negotiate a deal with Carrier in Indiana that promised government benefits to Carrier in exchange for keeping jobs in Indiana. That deal struck many conservatives as another example of “crony capitalism.” The government picks and chooses winners and losers instead of letting market forces work their will. Where most presidents have had a shaky relationship with the press, Trump is the first to call the press “enemies of the American public.” Where Reagan called the Soviets the “evil empire,” Trump has praised Vladimir Putin and asserted the moral equivalency between American and Soviet policy. Trump clearly has flip-flopped back and forth between the Democratic and Republican Party, but has actually spent more time as a Democrat. He only registered as a Republican a couple of years before announcing his candidacy. Trump may or not be a lifetime member of the GOP, but has he held consistent conservative values? Let’s look at his own words and actions. At the 2016 CPAC meeting, delegates threatened to walk out if Trump appeared. He was viewed as a false prophet of conservatism and he eventually withdrew as a speaker. At the 2017 CPAC meeting, Trump was hailed as the conquering hero. A full 86 percent of the delegates approved of Trump’s job performance and 80 percent believed Trump was “realigning the conservative movement.” As presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway observed, “well, I think by tomorrow this might be TPAC.” During his 48-minute address to the 2017 CPAC delegates, Trump no mention of Reagan, who has been the face of the modern conservative movement for four decades. Trump made no mention of “liberty” or the “constitution.” Trump made no reference to keeping government small and limited, and only once uttered the word “conservative,” which seemed odd for an audience of conservatives. Trump said: “Our victory was a victory. . . for conservative values.” The one common thread between Reagan and Trump was their appeal to working-class Americans. In 1977, Reagan told CPAC: “The New Republican Party I am speaking about is going to have room for the man and the woman in the factories, for the farmer, for the cop on the beat.” In his 2017 CPAC address, Trump said: “The GOP will be, from now on, the Party of the American worker. … We will not answer to donors or lobbyists or special interests.” (Although, being a billionaire will be considered an asset for all cabinet nominees.) One congressional staffer, after hearing Trump’s CPAC speech, called him “a moderate disguised as a conservative.” Conservative radio host John Ziegler described Trump’s CPAC speech as having the tone “it was written from a liberal perspective, in that greater government involvement was the foundational answer for nearly every problem.” Another delegate described Trump as “a fairly liberal conservative,” whatever that may mean. If CPAC is any indication, Trump is reshaping the conservative movement at breathtaking speed. Ideology is conforming to an individual, and not vice versa. “Repeal and Replace” was the centerpiece of Trumpism. We all thought he was referring to “Obamacare.” Now we know that “repeal and replace” referred to conservatism in America. Traditional conservative values have been abandoned and replaced by whatever Trump happens to say today. ___ Darryl Paulson is Emeritus Professor of Government at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.
Conservative forces clash in Donald Trump’s early days
Milo Yiannopoulos represented the conservative movement’s struggle with powerful and conflicting forces in the early days of Donald Trump‘s presidency, even before he lost his job and speaking slot in this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference. The 33-year-old British professional provocateur is among the new players in Trump’s Republican Party, which is increasingly defined by a say-anything populism and a loose affiliation with white nationalists. Yiannopoulos, both loved and hated for his divisive comments about women, minorities and Muslims, offered a pointed message to political leaders on Tuesday even as he apologized for making explosive statements about sexual relationships between boys and men. “America is crying out for somebody who will say the unsayable,” he declared. He added, “The populist, nationalist revolution that is happening, the anti-political correctness pro-free speech revolution that is happening all over the Western world, is not going anywhere.” Indeed, the conservative movement is in flux as thousands of adherents prepare to gather in suburban Washington for its largest annual gathering. Not long ago, the conference showcased the far-right fringe and the Republican Party’s rigid devotion to conservative ideology. Yet in the age of unfiltered Trump, CPAC may be outflanked by the likes of Yiannopoulos and the president’s chief counselor, Steve Bannon, whose confrontational brand of Republican politics ignores decades of conservative orthodoxy on key issues. Conservative leaders interviewed by The Associated Press this week described a clash between their sincere optimism over the Republican Party’s extraordinary success last fall and pangs of anxiety over its uncertain direction. “I think the conservative movement is hopeful, but wary,” said Tim Phillips, president of Koch-brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity. Conference organizers have coordinated a program specifically designed to distance the conservative movement from the racists and bigots who joined the GOP in recent years, all the while cheering Trump’s vows to build a wall and expel millions of immigrants living in the country illegally. “There is nothing about their views or their ideology that is consistent with conservatism,” said Dan Schneider, executive director of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC. He dismissed the white nationalists as “nothing more than garden variety” fascists. At the same time, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp said Yiannopoulos was “playing an important role in pushing back against what’s happening on college campuses.” “There’s plenty of things he’s said I find offensive and inappropriate,” Schlapp added. “Quite honestly, like a lot of people, I was hoping to learn a lot more about him by his appearance at CPAC. We just believe that when the new information came to light, that the CPAC stage was not the appropriate place for him to defend his reputation on those comments.” Yiannopoulos was removed from the conference speaking program earlier in the week following new scrutiny of video clips in which he appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13. He also left his job as an editor on the far-right, pro-Trump website, Breitbart News, and lost a book deal with Simon & Schuster. In one of the videos, Yiannopoulos, who is gay, said relationships between boys and men could “help those young boys discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable sort of rock, where they can’t speak to their parents.” “I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, advocacy. I am horrified by that impression,” he said. Despite this week’s focus on Yiannopoulos, the debate over the future of the conservative movement extends well beyond one troubled activist. Trump himself is hardly regarded as a traditional conservative. “When Donald Trump walks out on stage at CPAC this week, he will be addressing a crowd that largely supported someone else in the Republican primaries,” said longtime evangelical leader Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, suggesting that both sides need each other going forward. Yet some worry that Trump has abandoned long-held conservative bedrock issues, such as free trade and small government. The president and Republicans in Congress have also been slow to repeal the federal health care law as promised. “It’s time to get moving,” Phillips said. On social issues, however, Trump appears to be tacking right. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday that the Justice Department would soon issue new directives on the use of school bathrooms for transgender students. The announcement alarmed LGBT groups that urged Trump to safeguard Obama-era guidelines allowing students to use school restrooms that match their gender identity, not their birth gender. Conservative leaders cheered the news. Yiannopoulos, meanwhile, described himself as “the most interesting thing happening in American conservativism.” “I have an opportunity now through what has happened to reach an even larger audience, and I intend to do so,” he said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
