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Interesting Headline. 2 great questions.
Too bad the article had NOTHING to do with the headline, addressing the headline, or even answering the headline.
Outstanding article! Thanks for posting!
At one time, such positions defined the Left side of the American political spectrum, even the far Left -- even the Communist Party USA!
True...shows just how far the gop has strayed from it's base.
“Let’s take a closer look at Continetti’s top four GOP markers: 1) internationalist in outlook; 2) pro-free trade; 3) pro-immigration; 4) support for American leadership in global institutions.”
Here’s the problem right here. These are not necessarily conservative or patriotic goals for the nation - especially if you ask for clarification on what “support for American leadership in global institutions” might really mean, these are the GOPe goals that most here hate, that undermine our sovereignty and our culture.
This is what the election is about. All the blather and babbling about who is or is not a real conservative, or a genuine conservative is nothing but a distraction, or a confusing obsession some cannot free themselves of.
What Obama and previous Dim administrations have done is conduct a massive Democrat voter recruitment drive by way of legal and illegal immigration, and joining with Republican cheap labor express presidents in not enforcing immigration law. Self-destructive Republicans I might add.
If those trends are not stopped and even reversed, then conservatives, genuine or not, can forget about winning the presidency again for decades to come, if ever.
Donald Trump made these issues the central issue of the Republican primaries. A few others such as Cruz have done some flip/flops and tried to catch up. But Trump is the only who has made these the central issues since announcing his candidacy, and the only one who has displayed the determination and independence to reverse the trends if elected.
He's a middle of the road moderate with a populist personae, no different than many North Easterners like Giuliani, for example or Cristie. Plus numerous other examples......Even Bill Oreilly.
Trump isn’t a conservative, particularly, at least not based on his past.
But he is a nationalist, and this time out, national sovereignty is the number one issue for many conservatives to the point that this issue “trumps” all others.
This is the point that many or most pundits miss, and this is the point that has tripped up almost every other candidate. National sovereignty is the number one issue for many people and its high on the list for most of the rest. Bush threw that issue away, as did Rubio, as did most of the other candidates. Trump seized it right out of the gate, and held on to it in the face of tremendous criticism even from GOP stalwarts. Thats why so many conservatives trust him on at least that issue if not on every issue. They have made a conscious decision that that issue is first.
Reagan was not an illegal immigration advocate. He wrongly compromised with amnesty on the promise it would be the last time.
Neither would Reagan support bringing in terrorists from the middle east.
That said, Trump is no Reagan conservative. Not even close. He is a strong personality adept at scamming people with strong statements, then backing off and being vague about his true position. He works for himself, for praise and money.
Thus, open borders, H-1B, Bad Trade...Constitutional Bypasses etc.
Much of "Conservatism" today is essentially anti-American.
What Is a Conservative? A conservative believes in constitutionally-limited government, free markets, states rights, individual liberty, a strong but not overly ambitious foreign policy, and the preservation of what the late, great Dr. Russell Kirk called “the permanent things”.
What Defines the GOP? Their only principle is to hve no principles.
Their only strategy is preemptive surrender.
Their only plan for victory is to tick off their base as much as possible.
The Republican Party was founded to replace the Whigs because the Whigs refused to take a stand on the important issues of the day. Well, they did such a good job of replacing the Whigs that they have become the Whigs.