This somewhat snarky question arose to my attention on Quora. The questioner wrote: "There was a time when conservatives stood for traditional values, smaller government, fiscal responsibility and strong national defense. Yet, many conservatives continue to stand by Trump who napalm those values regularly. Is their sole unifying value in 2017 the shared hatred of liberals?"Frankly, I just don’t buy the premise of the question, specifically the suggestion that Trump has “napalmed” conservative values. Look at the evidence:
- He picked Mike Pence as his vice-president.
- He has submitted a budget that cuts back dramatically on domestic spending.
- He is making efforts to reduce the regulations that have been strangling the economy and reducing income to the federal government.
- He seems to be pretty aggressive in both funding and respecting the military.
Republicans are at their strongest level of political power since the 1920s and Trump has managed to win over the white working class in a manner that will make it difficult for Democrats to win again at the national level for at least a generation.
I think the unifying factor here is defending the interests of the white working class. As long as Democrats vilify the white working class, I do not think they will have much opportunity to win significant power at either the state or federal level.
John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.
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