Great piece, John. Problem is that anti-Trumpers are looking for a centrism that doesn't exist because they moved with the Overton Window. Let's put it this way, if Trump's policy approach to the environment, reproductive rights, workplace fairness, civil rights, SCOTUS appointments, gerrymandering, and so on and so forth were being implemented by a Mike Pence, would they object? Of course not. They're all on board with Trump's scorched earth (literally) approach to judge selection, climate change denial, vote caging and every other policy.
Stephens is a false anti-Trumper. How do we know? Because a true anti-Trumper would object so vehemently to Trump's illegal behavior and authoritarian tendencies, etc., that she would vote for a Democrat as a corrective and then hope that moderation would come in that vote's wake (i.e., by, say, voting the Republican ticket elsewhere as that constraint).
But Stephens does not object enough to Trump to swallow this bitter pill. Instead, he's still looking for a Democrat that should appeal to his Neanderthalish version of "conservativism." Meh. He should know better, but he doesn't (or does and so writes opinion pieces like these hoping he can change a conversation that is long beyond his urge to troll).
If I were a political consultant reading Bret Stephen, here's what I'd be telling my candidate. "This man is not anti-Trump. He says he is, but you gotta wonder. He knows what our party stands for, where it's trending, along with popular opinion. If I were you, I wouldn't waste resources wooing his vote. Better to turn out more of the Democratic base and register new voters. As for those Bret Stephens-types, they're more likely to vote Trump anyway and use Democrats as their excuse, even if our candidate were Joe Biden. No pitch will really appeal to them. The best case scenario is to encourage them to write in someone else or not check the presidential box."
Great piece, John. Problem is that anti-Trumpers are looking for a centrism that doesn't exist because they moved with the Overton Window. Let's put it this way, if Trump's policy approach to the environment, reproductive rights, workplace fairness, civil rights, SCOTUS appointments, gerrymandering, and so on and so forth were being implemented by a Mike Pence, would they object? Of course not. They're all on board with Trump's scorched earth (literally) approach to judge selection, climate change denial, vote caging and every other policy.
Stephens is a false anti-Trumper. How do we know? Because a true anti-Trumper would object so vehemently to Trump's illegal behavior and authoritarian tendencies, etc., that she would vote for a Democrat as a corrective and then hope that moderation would come in that vote's wake (i.e., by, say, voting the Republican ticket elsewhere as that constraint).
But Stephens does not object enough to Trump to swallow this bitter pill. Instead, he's still looking for a Democrat that should appeal to his Neanderthalish version of "conservativism." Meh. He should know better, but he doesn't (or does and so writes opinion pieces like these hoping he can change a conversation that is long beyond his urge to troll).
If I were a political consultant reading Bret Stephen, here's what I'd be telling my candidate. "This man is not anti-Trump. He says he is, but you gotta wonder. He knows what our party stands for, where it's trending, along with popular opinion. If I were you, I wouldn't waste resources wooing his vote. Better to turn out more of the Democratic base and register new voters. As for those Bret Stephens-types, they're more likely to vote Trump anyway and use Democrats as their excuse, even if our candidate were Joe Biden. No pitch will really appeal to them. The best case scenario is to encourage them to write in someone else or not check the presidential box."