Trump’s Presidency, A Pyrrhic Victory for GOP
Trump is the most immediately consequential president in US history behind only Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman. His reversal of major policy initiatives, approach to political engagement, and impact on global trade will have lasting repercussions for the world and America’s place in it. Some hail Trump’s presidency as a breath of fresh air. Others count it a disaster. Both signal significance. What does it mean that the Republican establishment, outside of Chris Christie 👋, were largely unable to recognize that Trump had captured the voice, imagination, and and faith of their voting base? What will it cost the party to close the gap?
Arriving at Trump
Following 2008, internal surveys had advised the GOP to change. The only viable path forward would require them to broaden their base by courting a more diverse coalition. Unable to gain significant traction with African American, Hispanic, or LGBTQ communities in the 2012 cycle, the party approached 2016 with its largest primary field in over a century. Trump stood out again and again amidst a field of career politicians, trust fund babies, preachers, and upstarts. Trump willed himself to the fore with a narrative molded from another bygone entertainer turned politician. His political trajectory mirrored the forgotten populous he championed. His hostility translated their frustrations, and his victory validated their version of America. Trump’s coronation did little to temper his campaign. Attacks continued to bruise friends and foes alike, leaving aides, spokespeople, and party mates scrabbling to tidy the rubble.
“And then, in that dim light, Malcolm stood up and waved his hand, and all those people just disappeared. Disappeared. One of the police people said to me, ‘Did you see what I just saw?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘This is too much power for one man to have.’”
The Base in Your Voice
The Republican base now belongs to Trump. Conservative politicians ride his coattails from one unlikely victory to the next. Though he walks under the red banner, Trump marches to the beat of his drum, pulling the grand old party along a three-legged marathon from one identity crisis to the next. Do immigrants attempting to cross our border illegally deserve protections? Is sexual assault fake news? Does the party empathize with white nationalists? Can the GOP jeer the disabled or the parents of fallen soldiers if they’re liberals? Should adultery raze a presidency? Is it right to disrupt the world order to collect on promises? Thus far, each hue and cry has proven manageable. The economy, gun rights, and state house are safe. What’s to complain about?
No one man should have all that power?
— Kanye West
Helsinking?
The establishment, Republican and Democrat alike, let out an audible gasp at the Finnish summit. Rank and file Trumpettes saught a silver lining, while Republicans on the Hill stumbled through denouncements measuring out a large enough crawl space for themselves to backtrack in case they had misread the political tea leaves. While seeing Trump favor foreign intelligence over US intelligence felt like a betrayal for some, few furrowed their brow longer than 48 hours. Trump’s base settled on “misspoke.” The only unforced error worth mention. Helsinki will not break this elephant’s back. Trump is still a winner, and the GOP must continue to wade through the debris of his presidency to reach victory and relevance. The rub? the Republican establishment is not their base and is not even their media corps. The greater moral agility they display, the more accommodating they prove, the further away from their old selves they stray. What happens to the GOP when Trump train ends?
Pyrric Victory
In his campaign to defend the Greek city of Tarentum, Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, waged war with a prepubescent Roman Republic. After winning the first two major battles, the eventual outcome seemed foregone. Plutarch description of Pyrrhus recounting his losses and gains foreshadows the fate the Grand Old Party:
“The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.” — Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus
