At Red Alert Politics, we welcome a diversity of views, even among our staff. On the issue of Donald Trump’s impact on the Republican Party, we couldn’t be more divided.
As a fun exercise before the Iowa caucuses, we’re publishing the debate below between RAP Editor Ron Meyer and RAP writer Ryan Girdusky. After reading, there is a Twitter poll at the bottom where you can answer yourself: Is Trump good for the future of the GOP?
Ryan G: Opening Statement
Donald Trump is not only good for the GOP; I venture to say that he is a necessity to ensure its survival.
Nearly a decade after George W. Bush’s administration left the Republican Party in tatters, the candidacies of Rubio, Jeb!, Kasich, Christie, Carson, Fiorina, and Cruz promise to returned his failed agenda back to power.
The “establishment” agenda has promised a series of hollow guns and butter policies: more wars for democracy that caught America in sectarian conflicts; a tax system that benefits only the very rich or very poor; open borders that have plagued our country with drugs, human smuggling, and gangs; a legal immigration policy that imports more people annually than the populations of both Dakotas combined; and a free trade policy that has given China trillions over the last few decades.
Republicans had success in 2010 and 2014 only due to their position as the sole opposition party to Obama’s disastrous foreign policy and left-wing corporatism domestic policy.
The GOP has a question of how it will be a party in leadership, will it return for a third term for George W. Bush or “put Americans first.”
Yes, Trump may not be a “pure conservative” – it’s unclear what that is, but it seems to be addictive as pure cocaine.
Trump’s populism and patriotism on trade, immigration, taxes, and foreign policy will open the doors to millions of people that George W. Bush kicked out of ever being in the party.
The nation is rejecting corporatism, internationalism, and the neoconservative agenda. The only viable alternative being offered is Trump’s.
Bushism lost Republicans the millennial generation. Anyone but Trump would be more of the same and complete insanity.
Ron M: Opening Statement
As I’ve said previously, Donald Trump could ruin the Republican Party’s chances to win millennial voters for an entire generation.
He is — by far — the least popular politician among voter voters. He has a higher than 50 percent disapproval and just 17 percent like him. In the general election, he gets trounced by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in this demo. His numbers among minorities are equally as bad, and young voters and minorities will keep playing a bigger role in our elections.
Trump is literally the candidate of the past: more than 80 percent of Trump’s supporters are older than 45 years-old. Without winning over more millennials, the election math is almost impossible for Republicans to win the presidency ever again.
Beyond the numbers, he is simply an embarrassment for the Republican brand (and it’s already pretty low to begin with). Trump reenforces all the misperceptions about Republicans: Rich, angry, and bigoted. He can’t communicate without insulting people or saying something he has to later clarify.
Is that really who we want on the world stage representing America?
Ryan G: Rebuttal
I can’t disagree that he has underperformed in national polling, which is okay — because we decide elections by the states and in plenty of swing states he beats or ties Hillary.
While it is very possible that he will lose the millennial bloc in 2016, the point is to win and then convert them with good pragmatic governing.
That’s where Trump can win them over in the future. Polls are only a moment in time and don’t predict anyone’s destiny. Just 8 months ago only 20% of GOP voters supported the frontrunner.
Ron M: Rebuttal to Ryan G’s Opening
Part of Ryan’s diagnosis is true: “Bushism” is the past of our Party, not the future. Millennials realize the problems with neoconservative foreign policy, want fair taxes, and hate crony capitalism. The question is: Is Trump the answer?
I would argue that both Trump-ism and Bush Republicanism (also called ‘the establishment’) are both bad for the GOP and both represent the past. Trump represents Dixie-crats/protectionists, who are consist mostly of aging southerners and those in the rust-belt; Bush/Christie/’the establishment’ represent Rockefeller Republicans, who like bigger government, just run by Republicans.
The future of our Party should be a more practical, liberty-minded conservatism — but Ryan is right, most of our candidates don’t have that kind of appeal. Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Marco Rubio have an opportunity to represent this future, but first, they have to show they have the appeal to beat Donald Trump.
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POLL: Is Donald Trump good from the future of the GOP?
Is @realDonaldTrump good for the GOP’s future? [POLL] @RedAlert writers debate: https://t.co/MBfnaLEQf3
— Red Alert Politics (@RedAlert) January 27, 2016
