I only said I'm trying to protect conservatism from whiny populism. So are you admitting Trump is trying to take out conservatism with whiney populism? I think he's somewhere in the middle, which is why I only support him part of the time.
Oh... You want to protect conservatism....
The conservatism of mcconnell, mccarthy, and paul ryan....
Nope. Trump tried to work with them, and they fought back changes and the loss of their power.
And that’s why they, and the ‘republican’ party, still isn’t fighting or supporting Trump with all this lawfare.
So your ‘conservatism’ is just swamp uniparty GOPe control of power.
You're a couple of decades late, but it wasn't populism that killed the conservative movement, it knifed in the back by its supposed "elected leaders". For decades, the base would work the phones, knock on doors, send their donations, and vote, because our "conservative" politicians sounded good during the campaign, but would then go to Washington and vote for more taxes, open borders, gun grabs, everything they said they opposed when they were talking to us rubes in the base.
Trump, for all of his flaws, is the first politician in my lifetime who actually tried to do what he said he would do during his campaign. Some people still cling to "muh conservative principles", or at least pretend to, but there's no more political appetite for that.
Now it's America First, and if you want to call that populism, so be it. The current ethos reminds me a lot more of the feisty Goldwater veteranos who were the heart and soul of the conservative movement, who fought hard and never gave up. The difference being, those good souls mostly bought the lies they were being told by their "leaders", whereas the current MAGA/America First movement *knows* that the Republican establishment is every bit as much of an enemy as the media, Democrat Party, and the academe.
Conservative, Inc. has been pining for the fjords for a while now.