As I wrote in my column, the Trump administration will be a key test of whether Tea Party Republicans are serious about their desire to limit government given that the president-elect is likely to push to increase for more government spending and intervention. But a new poll from Quinnipiac University is particularly bad news on that front.
On the one hand, the poll finds opposition to many of the policies that small government conservatives favor — by 48 percent to 38 percent, respondents oppose removing regulations on businesses (opposition rises to 59 percent when climate change regulations are specifically mentioned); by 57 percent to 38 percent those surveyed opposed making it easier to buy guns; by 60 percent to 32 percent, people opposed across-the-board tax cuts.
But on the other hand, a few Trump proposals are popular. By 64 percent to 28 percent, respondents favor renegotiating trade deals; and by 83 percent to 15 percent, respondents support “increasing federal spending for roads, bridges, mass transit and other infrastructure.”
Put another way, Trump has more public support for the policies on which he’s at odds with small government conservatives (trade and infrastructure spending) than on issues on which he’s taking positions in agreement with small government conservatives (cutting taxes and regulation).
A principled conservative in the White House who understands the long-term economic benefits of reducing taxes and regulations and is ideologically committed to limiting spending and government meddling in the economy, might be willing to ignore some of these poll numbers. But Trump is not an ideological conservative and will want to be a popular president. If he can fight free trade and infrastructure spending and have the public on his side, he’s much more likely to pursue those sorts of policies than he is to pursue conservative priorities.
