Saturday, August 5, 2017

Conservatives Debate The Survival Of The Repulican Party

Jennifer Rubin and George Will are two of the most prominent conservative opinion leaders in America.  Both of them have been repelled by the Republican Party's embrace of Donald Trump after he won the GOP primary and the presidential election.  Jennifer Rubin offers her version of conservatism  in this article.

George Will describes the primary battle in Alabama for the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions.  He also refers to a potential Republican contender in Michigan to show that the problems in the Republican Party go beyond regionalism.  The battle in Alabama, however, is his major concern.  He favors a conservative candidate but the debate is not about ideas.  His candidate is being attacked because he said some bad things about Donald Trump during the GOP primary in Alabama.  He is also being compared to much despised liberal Democrats in Alabama. False accusations of liberalism and insufficient admiration for Donald Trump may doom the only candidate that Will respects in Alabama.  The likely winner of the primary will use the same arguments in the general election against the Democratic candidate.  He will not be a Trump supporter and he will be compared to Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren who have two strikes against them.  They are powerful women who are also symbols of liberalism.

Jennifer Rubin concludes her plea for the rejection of Trumpism, from her favored political party, by making a wish.  She hopes that Republicans in Congress will do what is necessary to eliminate Trumpism before it damages the brand beyond recognition.  The Democrats might help the party to get rid of Trumpism by running against Trumpism in the 2018 elections.  Rubin would rather see the Republican Party step up to the plate and throw the bum out.  That may be the least likely outcome.  The Trump base has become a necessary, but not a sufficient constituency, for a political party inspired by conservative ideas. 

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