Explaining Trump’s Hostile Takeover
A neglected minority faction in the party—basically Reagan Democrats—has emerged triumphant, and its legitimate concerns, sadly, are now misrepresented by a buffoon.
.. the safety nets on which Americans have come to rely all seem to be withering away—unions, pensions, tenure, employee and employer loyalty, and even government entitlements.
.. The revival of Reaganism (or Jack Kempism) won’t work today, in part, because circumstances have just changed, and reforms that once seemed populist now seem much more oligarchic.
.. the junior senator from Texas consistently overplayed the religion and morality card in the mode of evangelical identity politics.
.. My point is that it took him little effort to be credited with occupying moderate ground. It was amazing how easily he was allowed to get away with that.
.. His might be the toughest and most impervious Teflon of all time.