You almost nailed it, just that Nikki Haley will never do what you suggested and the democrats will never listen. Nikki is backed by the Wall Street donors and her neo-con foreign policy is just proof that she’s using wars for money laundering. The best bet for Republicans right now is to ask Nikki to step down, and to help Trump to get the country back. Trump says stupid things from time to time. But his policies mostly make sense. The democrats will never listen. They are no longer the “liberals” that they call themselves. They’re purely socialists and marxists who enjoy becoming the ruling class in the sacrifice of this country’s future
She was so close and she could still get there in the future, not this time. I met her at an event in Nevada. Her stump speech that night was on point. But, you got the feeling that she wasn't connecting with you. I met Trump in Nevada in February of 2020; he was a businessman and he connected with you. DeSantis too-never really connected on a retail level. Clinton, Reagan, and Trump all connected on a retail level with people. I met both Bush's and they could connect but not in the same way.
Because Nikki Haley works for the Wall Street donors, not the people. That she promotes sending money out to support wars while cutting social security to maintain a fiscal balance is a joke. We can maintain a fiscal balance by developing domestic economy. Why do we need to get ourselves into more wars and chaos, which apparently won’t help with domestic development. This does not make any logical sense. The US will not have a strong international stance if it itself doesn’t have a strong domestic economy. This is purely common sense. That she advocates wars proves that she represents the globalists who want to use wars to funnel their money, not the everyday Americans who just want to have a strong domestic economy and to live a better life.
Socialist? Marxist? Do you know what those terms actually mean? I don't see any of those themes in Biden's or the "elites" politics. Socialism is a system where the workers own the means of production. Marxism formed the basis for Communism. Ironically, the one who professes a puppy love for N Korean communist style dictatorship is Trump. And his buddy Putin, a former card carrying member of the Communist Party.
Haha, you’re totally lied to about what socialism means. Yes, the textbook would tell you socialism means the workers own the products. But no, socialism means a group of elites tells you what to do and decides how much you get, and that group of elites is called “government”. That’s the essence of socialism. And they don’t want anything to be privately owned. Everything is owned by the government. They said that’s because the government represents the workers. But no, the government only represents the ruling class. So eventually everybody in the government wants larger government and more power, and those who haven’t got into the government tries to bribe government officials so they can be part of it. I came from one of those socialist countries, that’s why I know!
He has come out in favor of a flat tax (which should be a fairtax.org)
Strong military, with a Big Stick policy
Supports law and order.
His abortion stance is the right one-->no overriding federal law, let the states decide.
He is plain spoken. Does he take too much credit---yes. He's a politician. If you liked Obama, you ought to like Trump because their political style isn't a lot different.
Trump supporters argue for tax cuts and more military spending, clearly ignoring the fact that he added $8 trillion to our debt by doing just that. This new Trump Party has taken Republicans away from the 200 year roots of fiscal conservatism that anchored the party.
They are the deluded ones, thinking we can cut taxes and increase spending without long term consequences. They want to “take their country back” by booting out 30 million blacks, Asians and Hispanics and making America a Christian nation despite our constitution’s prohibition.
John Cochrane may be a better sociologist than he is an economist!
Yes, C-19, The Biden laptop, the Russiagate follies, the constant demonizing of Trump supporters and anyone who is not a Boston illiberal.
Add on Harvard. Did Trump ever speak so poorly as to say calling for the genocide of Jews was OK, depending on context? Even the deplorable Trump never sank so low.
Now this:
"The Harvard Kennedy School is set to host a Palestinian professor who called Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians a “normal struggle for freedom,” and said she would never forgive Israel’s government for “making us take their children and elderly as hostages.”
Dalal Saeb Iriqat, a professor of diplomacy and conflict resolution at the Arab American University in Ramallah is set to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center as part of its Middle East Dialogues series on March 7, 2024."
Vu de France, Trump n’avait sans doute pas besoin du soutien d’un économiste grincheux. Le vide de compétences politique n’est pas une excuse. La perte d’influence des USA n’est peut-être pas de la responsabilité des politiques. C’est la marche du monde. La lucidité serait de l’admettre. S’en remettre à un imbécile, fauter de mieux, n’est pas une solution.
Outstanding WSJ piece. Ironically though, while voting for Trump might look like the best way to stick it to the elites, in fact it gives the elites exactly what they want: license to justify a permanent state of emergency. Your advice on what Nikki Haley, Trump and Democrats should do is spot on. But voters (on both sides) should also go beyond knee-jerk outrage. Politicians are failing us, but revealed preferences suggest that populism is what voters on both the left and right prefer today.
I agree. Except that under Trump it also happened, but still from the left : see for example the media giving up any pretense of objectivity, the Russia collusion hoax, etc. The elites use Trump to justify their own undemocratic emergency measures, both when they are in power and when they are not. The interesting question is, would they do the same with any other Republican candidate? Probably, I suspect. But for the moment it is a fact that they can use Trump as a very convenient excuse.
Right. But this is the left’s tactic. It’s not because of Trump. Trump got attacked because he didn’t play the game the left wanted him to play, unlike the Bushes. Without Trump, the left will still attack whoever the Republican president, as long as this person doesn’t get coerced by them. This is purely intimidation. We cannot give in, or we’ll let the left take over the power and destroy this country.
More than propose, I wish we could roll back the clock and find a better Republican candidate than Trump; but I respect the choice of the majority of Republican voters. And I think the current incarnation of the Democratic party is by far the greater threat to democracy and the republic.
I voted and contributed to the Rand Paul campaign in 2016. But Trump had much better sound bytes and "good vs. bad" answers.
But it is now evident that in modern American (and EU) politiics there is little room for analytical and brainy politicians. Most of the electorate is low-information and low-attention-span and they mostly vote for showmanship and simplistic sound bytes.
My belief is that Democracy in the West will survive only if we go back to some form of early 20th century voting laws: only people that pay taxes (skin in the game) and with a minimum knowledge of the issues get to vote.
I'm with you on this. My concern is that sometimes it seems like people can have good knowledge of the issues but zero understanding...but a minimum of knowledge would be a good start.
Hmmm. This article failed to mention some important reasons I supported Trump, while not liking him that much. Deregulation was huge, he retired 14 rules on the Federal Register for every new one added. On trade he was focused on an industrial policy that would restore the U.S. to a producer nation vs. a consumer nation. Wrt National Security, he was reducing our military sprawl while using our power wisely to back down adversaries, for the most part. There was a lot more to it than immigration, although that was crucial because all other politicians lie to me about it and are afraid to say "Deport every single illegal alien on the country". And oh yeah, Mexican immigrants commit much higher rates of rape and sexual assault, Trump was citing data Ann Coulter dug up for her book Adios America. You might want to consider why our govt (fed and states) don't report this data in a way that's readily accessible...
Trump's support is about governing from a classically liberal, nationalist POV. Not a Prog-Marxist autocracy...The choice is clear if one isn't a dopey Leftist.
You say, re fromer President Trump that "[n]obody else in a century and a half has come back from losing an election." While you may mean coming back from being president and losing re-election, if you are talking about just losing a presidential election, I would mention Richard Nixon, who actually knew what he was doing in foreign affairs.
I find it deeply disappointing that John has been sucked into an echo chamber, paralleling Paul Krugman in a number of off-putting ways. Indeed, I stopped reading Paul Krugman after his "evolution" from equal opportunity offender (okay, more or less) into brazenly one-sided tribal mouthpiece, and John seems to be rapidly approaching that same tipping point. An echo chamber must feel nice, and I hope against the odds that I have enough strength to avoid one myself.
I would let Professor Cochrane speak for himself but I don't see any commonality between Mr. Krugman and Mr. Cochrane other than they have PhD's in economics.
I do think academics value intense debate that is rigorous and respectful and Trump is not that.
As a Trump-agnostic observer from across the pond, it seems to me that his appeal is that he comes across as a combative outsider who refuses to play by the rules of what so many across the Western world increasingly see as a political stacked deck. Secondly the fact that he has triggered Trump Derangement Syndrome in the millions of the Lefty-sheep-dipped graduate class who now control all the levers of power in America (and the Western world as a whole)....this must have enough appeal to compensate for any annoying aspects of his personality.
I am not a fan of Trump the person and also disagree with some of his policies like tariffs. Why do people like him? Because he fights. Because he understands the "elite mindset" and understands how to unravel it. I have been in many social situations where very wealthy people have proposed some sort of policy idea, but of course "not for them for the other people".
Look at the way Trump debates vs the way Romney debated Obama (particularly the Candy Crowley CNN debate where she bailed him out)
I was at a "Debate Party" in 2004. My wife and I were the token Republicans. Everyone else was a Democrat including the Journalism professors from Northwestern. In the elevator on the way out, they looked at me and said, "Wouldn't it be great if only people like us could vote?". I said, "They did that in the Jim Crow South. Is that what you want?"
Because the Democrats and RINOs want to dictate to the masses and use government power to enforce their will, a million conspiracy theories bloom and Trump is able to take advantage of it. When some of them come true, he looks better than he did to his supporters in the first place.
I would love for Trump to be Milei. He is not. However, he is the least worst alternative based on the choices we have right now. The problem with the Democrats is that 30% of their party has embraced socialism and they are so powerful internally the tail wags the dog. On the Republican side, the RINOs are so full of falseness and will as Thomas Sowell said, "Sometimes it looks as if the Democrats are out to win at all costs, while the Republicans are out to compromise at all costs."
I find that the Democrats preach tolerance and acceptance while offering none. Their solutions are centralized bureaucratic solutions. Trump seemingly cuts through a lot of that.
There is not a bigger RINO in my lifetime than Trump. I really don’t know how one can put him and Sowell in the same sentence. Sowell had principles, Trump has one - himself.
Nor do I see how you think he can compromise. Even now he wants to sabotage border reform (that he finally had his day on) so he can campaign on it. What should have been a triumph of Warp Speed, he self sabotaged vaccines for a generation and now measles is back.
His fans graft so many things onto his persona that he doesn’t remotely have, or at best stumbles into on account of whatever collections of adults in the room can convince him on at the moment.
The DNC deserves to lose for all the reasons John has outlined, yet the GOP base is hellbent on picking the one guy they will probably still win against as the nation is basically begging “please, anybody else”
I do not have TDS and can acknowledge some of the wins (and many, many losses), but the man is a cancer on the GOP itself when they should be cleaning up at elections right now with a regulatory reform agenda. He has turned the party on its head, and sent independents running.
“the man is a cancer on the GOP itself“ ….. but that is what he promised to do …..”I will destroy the Republican Establishment”. Trump enthusiasts see that Corporate America, of which the Democrat and Republican parties are both agents, has abandoned them. Trump is the only one who claims to be able to reset America to the 1950's, a period of rising prosperity (primarily for white-skinned males). Of course he cannot. He can only create chaos.
You highlight something important for Haley. We need a politician who wouldn't just stoke animosity against Fauci, but would replace him. One that just doesn't talk about America First, but actually brings troops home (ie, why was the military able to override decisions to bring troops home from the Middle East? Why did we have to wait for Biden to bring the troops home from Afghanistan? )
One of your few fuzzy thinking screeds, John. You need to more clearly articulate what three things Trump got right. Morally deluded state of western politics? That is true of both left and right wing thinking but needs to be fleshed out. Wrong direction of the country? A clearer definition of where you think we’re headed. “They want their country back”? You mean they want to go back to the good old ‘50s when blacks and women knew their place? And I could not understand what your third point was other than incompetence of our major institutions. Remember, John, this institutional incompetence was exposed during the final year of the Trump Administration, the abysmal handling of the Covid crisis. And then came Jan 5th and the Trump inspired insurrection.
True, the looney left is trying to drag us into their vision of heaven by demonizing capitalism. This truly is the road to perdition as west coast cities are painfully learning.
But they can’t be saved from this dreadful delusion by dragging them down Trump’s maniacal rathole.
Cochrane gets Trumpers’ grievances. And he accepts them as legitimate. Necessary but not sufficient.
If Trump’s voters were even marginally rational, Ron DeSantis would now be coasting to the Republican Presidential nomination. Winning elections is only half of politics—the successful politician also has to be able to implement durable change that positively impacts his constituents. Trump is supremely talented, but only as an entertainer and a celebrity.
Trump accomplished almost nothing lasting during his first term. What little survives—judicial appointments and tax reform—was largely the work of the hated Republican “establishment.” But that establishment is gone. Trump “drained the swamp” (at least on his own side of the aisle). His second term agenda is purely personal: staying out of jail and settling scores with enemies.
Irrationally is hardly unique to Trump’s voters. Or Republicans. Or even Americans. But both parties previously insured that effective demagoguery was accompanied by executive talent (cf. FDR, Reagan, Obama). By abandoning our constitutional heritage and radically democratizing our presidential election process, America loses its uniqueness and risks becoming indistinguishable from Argentina.
I have always admired your writings on economics but your WSJ. brings to light your brilliant writing on the political economy as well. You captured the essence of what motivates individuals like me to vote for Trump despite the fact that I think he will be largely ineffective in a second term due to lack of discipline, poor judgement in selecting personnel and implacable foes in the deep state, the mass media, much of corporate America , and of course the elites. He is self destructive in his lack of self awareness. But the current administration must me extirpated from further destroying the foundations of this country
I am a Trump supporter, however, I am not a Republican, instead, when I first voted, I chose Independent as my political stance. There are many reasons I like Trump. Specifically, the Border, two tiered justice, and war avoidance through strength, school choice, belief in our Constitution. I have gone around the Sun 78 times, served as a Captain, in Vietnam, have 40 years experience as an investment advisor. Trumps term in office, was the best economic success, rivaling the old yuppie period. Even then, it had better participation, by all the minorities. No new wars, or dead American service members. Let me tell you, putting soldiers, into body bags isn’t fun. President Trump accomplished this, while being persecuted by the radical left, without cause!
You almost nailed it, just that Nikki Haley will never do what you suggested and the democrats will never listen. Nikki is backed by the Wall Street donors and her neo-con foreign policy is just proof that she’s using wars for money laundering. The best bet for Republicans right now is to ask Nikki to step down, and to help Trump to get the country back. Trump says stupid things from time to time. But his policies mostly make sense. The democrats will never listen. They are no longer the “liberals” that they call themselves. They’re purely socialists and marxists who enjoy becoming the ruling class in the sacrifice of this country’s future
She was so close and she could still get there in the future, not this time. I met her at an event in Nevada. Her stump speech that night was on point. But, you got the feeling that she wasn't connecting with you. I met Trump in Nevada in February of 2020; he was a businessman and he connected with you. DeSantis too-never really connected on a retail level. Clinton, Reagan, and Trump all connected on a retail level with people. I met both Bush's and they could connect but not in the same way.
Because Nikki Haley works for the Wall Street donors, not the people. That she promotes sending money out to support wars while cutting social security to maintain a fiscal balance is a joke. We can maintain a fiscal balance by developing domestic economy. Why do we need to get ourselves into more wars and chaos, which apparently won’t help with domestic development. This does not make any logical sense. The US will not have a strong international stance if it itself doesn’t have a strong domestic economy. This is purely common sense. That she advocates wars proves that she represents the globalists who want to use wars to funnel their money, not the everyday Americans who just want to have a strong domestic economy and to live a better life.
Socialist? Marxist? Do you know what those terms actually mean? I don't see any of those themes in Biden's or the "elites" politics. Socialism is a system where the workers own the means of production. Marxism formed the basis for Communism. Ironically, the one who professes a puppy love for N Korean communist style dictatorship is Trump. And his buddy Putin, a former card carrying member of the Communist Party.
Haha, you’re totally lied to about what socialism means. Yes, the textbook would tell you socialism means the workers own the products. But no, socialism means a group of elites tells you what to do and decides how much you get, and that group of elites is called “government”. That’s the essence of socialism. And they don’t want anything to be privately owned. Everything is owned by the government. They said that’s because the government represents the workers. But no, the government only represents the ruling class. So eventually everybody in the government wants larger government and more power, and those who haven’t got into the government tries to bribe government officials so they can be part of it. I came from one of those socialist countries, that’s why I know!
What policies that Trump advocates make sense ?
Remain in Mexico asylum-seeker policy.
or country of origin
School choice.
Lower taxes. The SALT policy is one example
He has come out in favor of a flat tax (which should be a fairtax.org)
Strong military, with a Big Stick policy
Supports law and order.
His abortion stance is the right one-->no overriding federal law, let the states decide.
He is plain spoken. Does he take too much credit---yes. He's a politician. If you liked Obama, you ought to like Trump because their political style isn't a lot different.
Trump supporters argue for tax cuts and more military spending, clearly ignoring the fact that he added $8 trillion to our debt by doing just that. This new Trump Party has taken Republicans away from the 200 year roots of fiscal conservatism that anchored the party.
They are the deluded ones, thinking we can cut taxes and increase spending without long term consequences. They want to “take their country back” by booting out 30 million blacks, Asians and Hispanics and making America a Christian nation despite our constitution’s prohibition.
That 8 trillion was mostly due to covid
Hey, can you provide a source on the 30 million figure?
John Cochrane may be a better sociologist than he is an economist!
Yes, C-19, The Biden laptop, the Russiagate follies, the constant demonizing of Trump supporters and anyone who is not a Boston illiberal.
Add on Harvard. Did Trump ever speak so poorly as to say calling for the genocide of Jews was OK, depending on context? Even the deplorable Trump never sank so low.
Now this:
"The Harvard Kennedy School is set to host a Palestinian professor who called Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians a “normal struggle for freedom,” and said she would never forgive Israel’s government for “making us take their children and elderly as hostages.”
Dalal Saeb Iriqat, a professor of diplomacy and conflict resolution at the Arab American University in Ramallah is set to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center as part of its Middle East Dialogues series on March 7, 2024."
And they say Trump is bad?
Vu de France, Trump n’avait sans doute pas besoin du soutien d’un économiste grincheux. Le vide de compétences politique n’est pas une excuse. La perte d’influence des USA n’est peut-être pas de la responsabilité des politiques. C’est la marche du monde. La lucidité serait de l’admettre. S’en remettre à un imbécile, fauter de mieux, n’est pas une solution.
Bien dit!
Outstanding WSJ piece. Ironically though, while voting for Trump might look like the best way to stick it to the elites, in fact it gives the elites exactly what they want: license to justify a permanent state of emergency. Your advice on what Nikki Haley, Trump and Democrats should do is spot on. But voters (on both sides) should also go beyond knee-jerk outrage. Politicians are failing us, but revealed preferences suggest that populism is what voters on both the left and right prefer today.
I only see state of emergency happens all the time under Biden, not under Trump.
Exactly. The elites create chaos in any way possible so they can implement what they want
I agree. Except that under Trump it also happened, but still from the left : see for example the media giving up any pretense of objectivity, the Russia collusion hoax, etc. The elites use Trump to justify their own undemocratic emergency measures, both when they are in power and when they are not. The interesting question is, would they do the same with any other Republican candidate? Probably, I suspect. But for the moment it is a fact that they can use Trump as a very convenient excuse.
Right. But this is the left’s tactic. It’s not because of Trump. Trump got attacked because he didn’t play the game the left wanted him to play, unlike the Bushes. Without Trump, the left will still attack whoever the Republican president, as long as this person doesn’t get coerced by them. This is purely intimidation. We cannot give in, or we’ll let the left take over the power and destroy this country.
what do you propose? who are you going to vote for?
More than propose, I wish we could roll back the clock and find a better Republican candidate than Trump; but I respect the choice of the majority of Republican voters. And I think the current incarnation of the Democratic party is by far the greater threat to democracy and the republic.
I voted and contributed to the Rand Paul campaign in 2016. But Trump had much better sound bytes and "good vs. bad" answers.
But it is now evident that in modern American (and EU) politiics there is little room for analytical and brainy politicians. Most of the electorate is low-information and low-attention-span and they mostly vote for showmanship and simplistic sound bytes.
My belief is that Democracy in the West will survive only if we go back to some form of early 20th century voting laws: only people that pay taxes (skin in the game) and with a minimum knowledge of the issues get to vote.
I'm with you on this. My concern is that sometimes it seems like people can have good knowledge of the issues but zero understanding...but a minimum of knowledge would be a good start.
Hmmm. This article failed to mention some important reasons I supported Trump, while not liking him that much. Deregulation was huge, he retired 14 rules on the Federal Register for every new one added. On trade he was focused on an industrial policy that would restore the U.S. to a producer nation vs. a consumer nation. Wrt National Security, he was reducing our military sprawl while using our power wisely to back down adversaries, for the most part. There was a lot more to it than immigration, although that was crucial because all other politicians lie to me about it and are afraid to say "Deport every single illegal alien on the country". And oh yeah, Mexican immigrants commit much higher rates of rape and sexual assault, Trump was citing data Ann Coulter dug up for her book Adios America. You might want to consider why our govt (fed and states) don't report this data in a way that's readily accessible...
Trump's support is about governing from a classically liberal, nationalist POV. Not a Prog-Marxist autocracy...The choice is clear if one isn't a dopey Leftist.
You say, re fromer President Trump that "[n]obody else in a century and a half has come back from losing an election." While you may mean coming back from being president and losing re-election, if you are talking about just losing a presidential election, I would mention Richard Nixon, who actually knew what he was doing in foreign affairs.
I find it deeply disappointing that John has been sucked into an echo chamber, paralleling Paul Krugman in a number of off-putting ways. Indeed, I stopped reading Paul Krugman after his "evolution" from equal opportunity offender (okay, more or less) into brazenly one-sided tribal mouthpiece, and John seems to be rapidly approaching that same tipping point. An echo chamber must feel nice, and I hope against the odds that I have enough strength to avoid one myself.
I would let Professor Cochrane speak for himself but I don't see any commonality between Mr. Krugman and Mr. Cochrane other than they have PhD's in economics.
I do think academics value intense debate that is rigorous and respectful and Trump is not that.
As a Trump-agnostic observer from across the pond, it seems to me that his appeal is that he comes across as a combative outsider who refuses to play by the rules of what so many across the Western world increasingly see as a political stacked deck. Secondly the fact that he has triggered Trump Derangement Syndrome in the millions of the Lefty-sheep-dipped graduate class who now control all the levers of power in America (and the Western world as a whole)....this must have enough appeal to compensate for any annoying aspects of his personality.
I am not a fan of Trump the person and also disagree with some of his policies like tariffs. Why do people like him? Because he fights. Because he understands the "elite mindset" and understands how to unravel it. I have been in many social situations where very wealthy people have proposed some sort of policy idea, but of course "not for them for the other people".
Look at the way Trump debates vs the way Romney debated Obama (particularly the Candy Crowley CNN debate where she bailed him out)
I was at a "Debate Party" in 2004. My wife and I were the token Republicans. Everyone else was a Democrat including the Journalism professors from Northwestern. In the elevator on the way out, they looked at me and said, "Wouldn't it be great if only people like us could vote?". I said, "They did that in the Jim Crow South. Is that what you want?"
Because the Democrats and RINOs want to dictate to the masses and use government power to enforce their will, a million conspiracy theories bloom and Trump is able to take advantage of it. When some of them come true, he looks better than he did to his supporters in the first place.
I would love for Trump to be Milei. He is not. However, he is the least worst alternative based on the choices we have right now. The problem with the Democrats is that 30% of their party has embraced socialism and they are so powerful internally the tail wags the dog. On the Republican side, the RINOs are so full of falseness and will as Thomas Sowell said, "Sometimes it looks as if the Democrats are out to win at all costs, while the Republicans are out to compromise at all costs."
I find that the Democrats preach tolerance and acceptance while offering none. Their solutions are centralized bureaucratic solutions. Trump seemingly cuts through a lot of that.
There is not a bigger RINO in my lifetime than Trump. I really don’t know how one can put him and Sowell in the same sentence. Sowell had principles, Trump has one - himself.
Nor do I see how you think he can compromise. Even now he wants to sabotage border reform (that he finally had his day on) so he can campaign on it. What should have been a triumph of Warp Speed, he self sabotaged vaccines for a generation and now measles is back.
His fans graft so many things onto his persona that he doesn’t remotely have, or at best stumbles into on account of whatever collections of adults in the room can convince him on at the moment.
The DNC deserves to lose for all the reasons John has outlined, yet the GOP base is hellbent on picking the one guy they will probably still win against as the nation is basically begging “please, anybody else”
I do not have TDS and can acknowledge some of the wins (and many, many losses), but the man is a cancer on the GOP itself when they should be cleaning up at elections right now with a regulatory reform agenda. He has turned the party on its head, and sent independents running.
“the man is a cancer on the GOP itself“ ….. but that is what he promised to do …..”I will destroy the Republican Establishment”. Trump enthusiasts see that Corporate America, of which the Democrat and Republican parties are both agents, has abandoned them. Trump is the only one who claims to be able to reset America to the 1950's, a period of rising prosperity (primarily for white-skinned males). Of course he cannot. He can only create chaos.
You highlight something important for Haley. We need a politician who wouldn't just stoke animosity against Fauci, but would replace him. One that just doesn't talk about America First, but actually brings troops home (ie, why was the military able to override decisions to bring troops home from the Middle East? Why did we have to wait for Biden to bring the troops home from Afghanistan? )
Very apt reference to Robert Caro’s LBJ series. Can’t wait for Vol. 5 covering Viet Nam to be published.
One of your few fuzzy thinking screeds, John. You need to more clearly articulate what three things Trump got right. Morally deluded state of western politics? That is true of both left and right wing thinking but needs to be fleshed out. Wrong direction of the country? A clearer definition of where you think we’re headed. “They want their country back”? You mean they want to go back to the good old ‘50s when blacks and women knew their place? And I could not understand what your third point was other than incompetence of our major institutions. Remember, John, this institutional incompetence was exposed during the final year of the Trump Administration, the abysmal handling of the Covid crisis. And then came Jan 5th and the Trump inspired insurrection.
True, the looney left is trying to drag us into their vision of heaven by demonizing capitalism. This truly is the road to perdition as west coast cities are painfully learning.
But they can’t be saved from this dreadful delusion by dragging them down Trump’s maniacal rathole.
Cochrane gets Trumpers’ grievances. And he accepts them as legitimate. Necessary but not sufficient.
If Trump’s voters were even marginally rational, Ron DeSantis would now be coasting to the Republican Presidential nomination. Winning elections is only half of politics—the successful politician also has to be able to implement durable change that positively impacts his constituents. Trump is supremely talented, but only as an entertainer and a celebrity.
Trump accomplished almost nothing lasting during his first term. What little survives—judicial appointments and tax reform—was largely the work of the hated Republican “establishment.” But that establishment is gone. Trump “drained the swamp” (at least on his own side of the aisle). His second term agenda is purely personal: staying out of jail and settling scores with enemies.
Irrationally is hardly unique to Trump’s voters. Or Republicans. Or even Americans. But both parties previously insured that effective demagoguery was accompanied by executive talent (cf. FDR, Reagan, Obama). By abandoning our constitutional heritage and radically democratizing our presidential election process, America loses its uniqueness and risks becoming indistinguishable from Argentina.
I have always admired your writings on economics but your WSJ. brings to light your brilliant writing on the political economy as well. You captured the essence of what motivates individuals like me to vote for Trump despite the fact that I think he will be largely ineffective in a second term due to lack of discipline, poor judgement in selecting personnel and implacable foes in the deep state, the mass media, much of corporate America , and of course the elites. He is self destructive in his lack of self awareness. But the current administration must me extirpated from further destroying the foundations of this country
I am a Trump supporter, however, I am not a Republican, instead, when I first voted, I chose Independent as my political stance. There are many reasons I like Trump. Specifically, the Border, two tiered justice, and war avoidance through strength, school choice, belief in our Constitution. I have gone around the Sun 78 times, served as a Captain, in Vietnam, have 40 years experience as an investment advisor. Trumps term in office, was the best economic success, rivaling the old yuppie period. Even then, it had better participation, by all the minorities. No new wars, or dead American service members. Let me tell you, putting soldiers, into body bags isn’t fun. President Trump accomplished this, while being persecuted by the radical left, without cause!