This essay does a pretty decent job of explaining why his support is as high as it is. I mean, aside from "stupid is as stupid does" argument; the two explanations aren't inconsistent with each other, although they don't completely overlap although there is a fair bit of overlap. There is also the shortsighted venal explanation, the "Tax cuts are always good, government is almost always bad except for defense, crime fighting and contract enforcement." I posted it on the other thread a few days ago, forgot to put it here.
The GOP is the party of Trump — but not for the reasons anti-Trump conservatives think
By Henry Olsen
Columnist
February 26
Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld may not be the only person to challenge President Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020. But whatever happens, the Republican primaries will reveal the extent to which the GOP is now Trump’s party, and why.
No one who runs against Trump will have any realistic hope of defeating him. Polls consistently show 80 percent or more of Republicans approve of the job he is doing. That figure rises to 93 percent among people who voted for him, according to the most recent Economist-YouGov poll. Trump also beats all of his potential challengers in head-to-head matchups, from margins ranging from 85-15 against Weld to a low of “only” 69-19 against Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). No one who wants a serious future in GOP politics will undertake this kamikaze mission.
Trump has earned this high level of support because he has delivered on the items of supreme importance to almost every Republican faction. University of New Hampshire professor Dante Scala and I examined these groupings in our book “ The Four Faces of the Republican Party.” Pre-Trump, the party had four factions: fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, “somewhat” conservatives (also labeled business conservatives) and moderates. Trump brought new voters into the primary process and created a fifth faction: nationalist conservatives, who want to lower immigration and redo foreign trade deals. Four of these five have received the things they care most about under the Trump administration.
The tax cut delivers for both fiscal conservatives (who never really cared about deficits as much as they did lowering taxes) and business conservatives. His judicial appointments deliver for social conservatives. Trump’s deregulation delights business conservatives. And his stances on immigration and trade show nationalist conservatives he has their backs. These groups together comprise about 80 percent of the party — almost precisely Trump’s job approval rating among Republicans.
continues at washingtonpost.com
[I disagree with his nomenclature: by definition, fiscal conservatives should be people who care about reducing deficits as opposed to just claiming that they care about reducing deficits, but never mind that--he is clearly right that they don't really care it, in fact, the larger the deficit the happier they are because it hamstrings government. "Starve the beast"--it is an insane way of governing, but it is the GOP's modus operandi ever since 1981, whatever their denials.] |
