Most objections I hear from long-time Conservatives about Donald Trump’s ascendancy in the polls concern his former ties to Democrats and his past liberal positions on major issues like healthcare. As a recovering Left-leaning, that is, anti-Bush, Independent, I think I understand not only Trump’s transformation, but that of many of his supporters.
Trump has supported a slew of despicable Democrats, including Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Anthony Weiner. He explains that this is part of running a multi-billion-dollar nationwide empire. To be sure, he has made contributions on the Republican side of the aisle, too. I suspect that his contributions were not motivated by allegiance. I think he is like many Independents and didn’t care for either party! I am even more convinced that this is the case after seeing a story attacking Trump for not voting in the past six Presidential primaries.
As far as his liberal policy positions in the past, I attribute those to being in line with politically correct, purportedly sophisticated and open-minded arguments espoused by intellectual NPR commentators and reputable network media, i.e. the mainstream media (MSM). Until the end of the Bush presidency, MSM policy positions were seldom disputed by professional, polite society guided by compassion, inclusiveness, and a conscious effort to avoid any negative observations that could implicate race, gender, sexuality, etc. stereotypes. Casting aside the bonds of political correctness is a very awkward transition for professionals and people in the public eye, like a gay person coming out to their friends and colleagues. It takes compelling reasons and a confidence in your new positions that are suddenly at odds with many of the people in your professional and personal networks.
Mortgage subsidies, TARP bailouts to Wall Street, and the Cash for Clunkers stimulus for automakers precipitated the Tea Party movement in 2009. Welfare fraud was also becoming more and more overt, or maybe I was just starting to notice. However, the Tea Party couldn’t break though the MSM portrayal of the group as fringe and racist. The Benghazi lies and IRS targeting leading up to the 2012 election exposed serious duplicity by the Democrats and the MSM. The White House spokesman became as blatantly unrealistic as Baghdad Bob. What were the Republicans yelling at the top of their lungs? Wake UP! Well, many were beginning to and what they saw of the Republican Party was more of an accessory than an alternative to the increasingly un-American Equal Outcome Democrat party. In 2013, the bipartisan Gang of Eight Bill allowing illegal aliens to stay with little hope of a secure border was narrowly defeated. Then they watched in horror as the new Republican Senate majority funded Obama’s edict giving legal status to some illegal immigrants and as they abdicated their say over the Iran and Trans Pacific Partnership deals, both of which could turn into disturbing precedent for U.N. supremacy over Congress.
I believe it is these transgressions against the Constitution coalescing the Wakeup Crowd. This contingent supports Trump for bucking political correctness and for being a true alternative to political hacks. They’ve seen how Trump fires Apprentice candidates in the boardroom and have little doubt that he would run a tight ship in the Oval Office, too. What has become abundantly clear is that no course correction will occur with an Establishment candidate from either party. If such a candidate wins the GOP nomination, the Wakeup Crowd will either stay home or vote third party in protest for the general election.
Consider that all presidential candidates have achieved the American Dream one way or another. Once elected, they legitimize that path for others and even give material support to the stepping stones they took. Earlier Presidents gained their prestige by excelling in the military. Most modern presidents came either from Congress or out of the Governor’s mansion of a state, making a political career the ultimate path to success. For Obama, that path was community activism, which has expanded greatly under his tutelage. Just look at Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the “out-of-town” rioters in Ferguson and Baltimore. We should expect more of the same from a President Warren given her background. For Trump, it would be something new in modern history and more in line with the American Dream envisioned by much of the Wakeup Crowd: hard work and achievement.
What I find remarkable listening to the various GOP candidates and pundits is how much they are capitulating to the Democrats relative to the Wakeup Crowd. Even on existential issues like immigration and government spending, the Establishment GOP has adopted virtually the same positions as the Democrats in a vain effort to attract rival voters. What the Establishment doesn’t understand is that the Wakeup Crowd is onboard with the GOP only so long as it provides a platform for defending American values and prosperity – not only in campaign promises, but in action. It’s not for crony corporatism that they are sticking around. The Establishment candidates are the frogs that have been in the GOP pot the whole time it has slowly been heated up by DC’s departure from American values and the Constitution. The Wakeup Crowd is not coming in just to change drivers in DC. They are coming in to correct course.
