As the 2020 presidential race heats up, it seems like the divide between left and right in American politics is wider than ever. We are told this is the most important election of our lifetime. Well, we've heard that before. Is it true this time? An interesting and somewhat annoying byproduct of the Trump administration is the seemingly endless train of long-time Republicans who have turned their backs on Trump. Rick Tyler is one who has solid conservative Republican credentials and experience, but who doesn't have much good to say about Trump's version of the Republican party. In Still Right: An Immigrant-Loving, Hybrid Driving, Composting American Makes the Case for Conservatism, Tyler argues that today's Republicans have left behind the conservatism that shaped the party in the latter part of the 20th century in favor of Trumpian populism.
Tyler, a political consultant who has worked in party politics, in political consulting alongside Newt Gingrich, and now as a commentator on MSNBC, says that the "Republican Party has shifted from a pro-immigration, pro-trade, pro-NATO party to one unrecognizable to a Reagan conservative." His arguments are convincing, to a point, but he ignores half the story on many of these issues. I can buy a pro-immigration stance, as long as limits are in place and controlled. How can Americans look at Europe and the loss of culture they are experiencing due to immigration from Africa and the Middle East and get excited about large numbers of immigrants from those areas? While immigrants are frequently productive and peaceful, what does one say about the large numbers who receive government assistance, or the large numbers of non-citizens in our prisons?
One can be pro-trade while also being circumspect about tariffs and trade balances. When we are trading with China, with its centrally controlled, heavily subsidized industries, can we expect American manufacturers to compete on such an uneven playing field? And pro-NATO? I tend to agree with Trump, that the alliance should be supported by the US, but also proportionately by the other countries.
Tyler throws out a couple of interesting proposals that he defends from a conservative perspective. First, he argues that we should add a justice to the Supreme Court. Democrats have been pushing the idea of packing the court with liberals once they get a D in the White House, but Tyler's proposal is that with one more justice, we won't have a single justice giving the decisive vote. I like this idea, which would perhaps push some cases back to lower courts with a tie, but would force more deliberation toward 6-4 decisions. His second proposal is not so cool. Like many Democrats, he argues for a national popular vote in presidential elections. As it stands, candidates only consider 8-10 states to be truly in play, so those states get the most campaign spending and candidate presence. Congressmen from those states are, as a result, seen as more consequential than those from solidly R or D states. It's an interesting idea, but I'll take the Constitution's formula.
It's true that Trump is not a dyed-in-the-wool conservative. But he's done more for conservatives than some of his Republican predecessors. The real question is, what direction is he taking the country? I have not watched Tyler's MSNBC appearances or followed his social media (I will now), and I don't know, even after reading this book, whether he will support Trump in the presidential election. It's pretty clear he did not in 2016, but given the choice between Trump and Biden, who better represents the conservative ideas you believe in? Who offers better opportunities for conservatives to gain influence in policy? Even if you don't believe Trump is truly conservative, and rightly point out ways he has governed that are more populist than conservative, do you really believe Biden will govern more conservatively than Trump? I don't think so. Tyler can help set the path for conservatism after Trump, hopefully without a socialist Biden/Harris interlude.
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