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Donald Trump seized on GOP’s failure to change enough to accommodate four decades of newcomers
The Great Unraveling
Republicans Rode Waves of Populism Until It Crashed the Party
Donald Trump seized on GOP’s failure to change enough to accommodate four decades of newcomers; a post-election split?
By Gerald F. Seib and Patrick O’Connor
jerry.seib@wsj.com
Oct. 26, 2016 10:32 a.m. ET
When Donald Trump rode down an escalator at Trump Tower to launch his presidential campaign in June 2015, he began galvanizing a populist version of the Republican Party. ... But he didn’t create it.
The GOP that carried Mr. Trump to the presidential nomination was formed by waves of new voters who washed onto Republican shores in the last four decades: George Wallace Southerners, Ronald Reagan Democrats, Pat Buchanan pitchfork populists and tea-party foot soldiers.
The Republican establishment was happy to have the votes of these newcomers, many from America’s working class, and accommodated their cultural preferences on social issues from guns to abortion to gay marriage. What the establishment didn’t do was adjust the GOP’s economic approach to match the populist impulses—or even seem to consider such a shift necessary.
Mr. Trump did. After entering the presidential race with just 3% to 5% support in national polls, he amplified the belief among millions of Republican newcomers that free-trade deals did more harm than good. He defended Social Security and Medicare benefits. He relentlessly voiced the fear that immigration shreds the economic and cultural well-being of the middle class.
Republicans Rode Waves of Populism Until It Crashed the Party
Donald Trump seized on GOP’s failure to change enough to accommodate four decades of newcomers; a post-election split?
By Gerald F. Seib and Patrick O’Connor
jerry.seib@wsj.com
Oct. 26, 2016 10:32 a.m. ET
When Donald Trump rode down an escalator at Trump Tower to launch his presidential campaign in June 2015, he began galvanizing a populist version of the Republican Party. ... But he didn’t create it.
The GOP that carried Mr. Trump to the presidential nomination was formed by waves of new voters who washed onto Republican shores in the last four decades: George Wallace Southerners, Ronald Reagan Democrats, Pat Buchanan pitchfork populists and tea-party foot soldiers.
The Republican establishment was happy to have the votes of these newcomers, many from America’s working class, and accommodated their cultural preferences on social issues from guns to abortion to gay marriage. What the establishment didn’t do was adjust the GOP’s economic approach to match the populist impulses—or even seem to consider such a shift necessary.
Mr. Trump did. After entering the presidential race with just 3% to 5% support in national polls, he amplified the belief among millions of Republican newcomers that free-trade deals did more harm than good. He defended Social Security and Medicare benefits. He relentlessly voiced the fear that immigration shreds the economic and cultural well-being of the middle class.
