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When Trump is Gone, the Bandwagon may Remain

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Populism purports to be a concern for ordinary people.  When politicians say that that they are populists, they may only mean that they are appealing to ordinary people; not that they are ordinary people.

When politicians from the right wing of our political spectrum say they are populists, they are generally talking about

  • Nationalism (for instance, "America first!)
  • Nativism (people born here; not recent immigrants)
  • Protectionism (keeping the jobs here)
  • Opposition to immigration (not how their family got here, but how people are doing so now)
  • Globalization (the influence of other nations as a result of global participation in commerce, etc.).
Again, when politicians say they are populists, they may not mean that they are populists, but that they have jumped on the bandwagon.  

Donald Trump is no populist.  He is about as far from ordinary people, and the concerns of ordinary people, as it is possible to be.  But it is becoming obvious that he knows a populist bandwagon when he sees one:  America First, nativist, anti-immigrant, protectionist, and us against the world.  

It has become obvious that about a third of the voting population is solidly behind Donald Trump, no matter what he does, and the reason is that Trump has recognized their agenda, their fear and anger, and their blistering scorn for "the elites" minus one:  The Donald Himself, who is saying what they want to have said.  The Donald says it, and it got him elected President.  Trump may go away, but populism will endure.  

The populists are mostly Republican, but not exclusively.  In fact, their scorn for traditional Republicans is obvious.  They have an agenda more than they have a political party.  The struggle on the Right is how to reorganize themselves politically.  The agenda is more important than the Grand Old Party.  When they are through, the party may not be so grand any more, but it will be different, if they have anything to do with it.  

How long Donald Trump can last is uncertain, because a President has to represent a majority of the country, not a third of it, and Presidents have to avoid being impeached, too.  But the populist agenda may remain:  anti-immigrant, anti-globalist, protectionist, still chanting, "America First", and fearfully close to being White Supremecist.


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