Trump and Trumpism

Matt Y

MY identifies Trumpism as having two core issues, anti-immigration and protectionism.

The core commitments of economic nationalism, in other words.

To get ahead in American politics you need to appeal to donors as well as to voters, and the constituency for conservatism minus entitlement cuts and free trade while doubling down on racism and xenophobia does not include a ton of rich people.

Which is to say that what Trumpism needs to be politically viable is exactly what Trump can offer — a self-financed campaign driven more by egomania and lust for the spotlight than any concrete notion of economic advantage. 

Trump himself is probably too much of a clown to capitalize on the potential appeal of his agenda over the long term. 

But a Trump-like figure with more of a conventional reputation as a businessman could find himself in a position to garner significant support as a self-financed third-party candidate. 

And while there's no precedent for a third-party contender actually winning a presidential race, there's ample precedent for independent bids altering the course of American politics by inducing one or the other of the major parties to co-opt its agenda.

So the GOP, already anti-immigration on Main Street though not on Wall Street, finally goes all in on that?

And the Democrats, previously anti-free trade, return to their labor-protecting roots?