The February 13 debate in South Carolina provided a clarifying
moment for this year's GOP presidential race. Donald Trump claimed that
the administration of George W. Bush had engaged in a massive conspiracy
to mislead the world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "They
lied," Trump thundered. "They said there were weapons of mass
destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none." This was
not a one-off flub. The line of questioning began with moderator John
Dickerson pointing out that in a 2008 interview Trump had suggested that
President Bush should have been impeached "for the war, for the war, he
lied, he got us into the war with lies."
Donald Trump is neither conservative nor especially Republican. He is given to fits of pique. He has neither a coherent political philosophy nor intellectual curiosity, which makes him unreliable as a champion of anything other than his own interests. We knew this before the debate.
What was clarified at the debate was not the nature of Trump but of Trumpism.
For the last eight months, the sophisticated view of Trump and Trumpism has gone something like this: Donald Trump may be a huckster, but he has done a service to the Republican party by bringing new, nontraditional voters into the tent. He has shown his fellow candidates that they can flatly reject the demands of political correctness and need not drop into turtle-guard whenever the New York Times takes a shot at them. And while Trump the man is not presidential material, Trumpism — that is, the collection of populist and nationalist concerns that have become wrapped up in the man's campaign — is potentially very helpful. Over the last 16 years, the Republican party has been largely ineffectual, both in power and in opposition. It has been hostage to a donor class that is almost completely at odds with Republican voters.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/trumpism-corrupts/article/2001153
Donald Trump is neither conservative nor especially Republican. He is given to fits of pique. He has neither a coherent political philosophy nor intellectual curiosity, which makes him unreliable as a champion of anything other than his own interests. We knew this before the debate.
What was clarified at the debate was not the nature of Trump but of Trumpism.
For the last eight months, the sophisticated view of Trump and Trumpism has gone something like this: Donald Trump may be a huckster, but he has done a service to the Republican party by bringing new, nontraditional voters into the tent. He has shown his fellow candidates that they can flatly reject the demands of political correctness and need not drop into turtle-guard whenever the New York Times takes a shot at them. And while Trump the man is not presidential material, Trumpism — that is, the collection of populist and nationalist concerns that have become wrapped up in the man's campaign — is potentially very helpful. Over the last 16 years, the Republican party has been largely ineffectual, both in power and in opposition. It has been hostage to a donor class that is almost completely at odds with Republican voters.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/trumpism-corrupts/article/2001153
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