As President Trump continues to remake the Republican Party in his image, calls for last rites to be given to American conservatism are not just premature—they’re entirely wrong. Accusing Republican voters of political apostasy for supporting Trump is wrong, too. These perspectives are also evidence that the accusers are missing an intellectual and political reformation that is reshaping U.S. politics.
Blinkered by an outdated, hermeneutic based on the post the post-Reagan right Reagan right-left split, the sentinels of the left split, the sentinels of the conventional wisdom have been predicting the demise not just of Trump but also of the entire conservative project for more than two years now. In fairness, it’s an easy mistake to make. Who thought an obscure monk from Wittenberg would upend the medieval social and political order? Like Martin Luther, Trump is an unlikely catalyst for this much-needed political reformation. Because the critics focus too much on the man and not enough on the message, their basic complaint about Trump voters has been: “You sold your principles to back a grifter for short-term political gain.”
Read the rest at The Washington Post.
Photo credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images