One of the selling points of the Republican Convention this week has been an appeal to fence sitting voters not to believe everything the media says about Donald Trump. This is the specific reason that many of the speakers have been highlighted and chosen to speak. Monday night of the convention included a model with an Only Fans page and an odd, and out of place Sikh prayer. It is the only reason his granddaughter spoke on Wednesday night. There is no other reason for her to have spoken other than to humanize her grandfather, and convince voters that he is not the monster he is made out to be. This is a fine political stratagem. The same should hold true for grassroots, populist conservatives. As good as Trump has been, they should be wary to look at what he did and not what the media said he did.
Yes, he gives charismatic voice to being different than his predecessors, and he is. It is good that he is hated by the establishment GOP, for you will be known by your enemies. But he is really not quite as radically different as his fans and opponents might have us believe. Trump did fine by his supporters, he did not betray them like so many politicians. Yet, at the risk of blasphemy, while he enforced immigration law, he did not secure the border in a way that couldn’t be erased by his successor, immediately upon inauguration. He didn’t build a wall. His SCOTUS selections were only slightly better than George Bush’s. Two thirds of his choices are wishy washy and could, without surprising anyone, side with the liberal members of the court on any given decision. In some ways, his was a typical Republican administration. Not that that is all bad. He cut taxes. No shock there. He did eliminate more regulation than most any president in history, and the economy responded. Most shockingly, his administration was a revolving door of establishment bodies. He was clearly terrible at positioning his allies around him. In John Bolton and Reince Priebus, he selected the most prototypical deep state guys that he could have chosen. Peter Navarro, Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon were the only Trump guys. And he fired Bannon! As Chiefs of Staff, for example, neither Priebus, General John Kelly, Mick Mulvaney nor Mark Meadows were true warriors who would advance Trump’s agenda. Quite the opposite, Trump put in positions of influence members of the swamp that he spent a year demonizing during the 2016 campaign.
He was not particularly dictatorial when he refused to lock down the riots during the mostly peaceful summer of Saint George Floyd. Nor do his stances on prison reform, gay marriage, or even abortion, exactly signal radical departures from anyone who could be plucked out of the Republicans old folks home.
Trump’s biggest successes that align with being a non-traditional Republican are his stances on trade and use of the military. He is not owned by the Chambers of Commerce like the ghosts of Republican’s past. These are both issues that play right into the hands of his excellent choice for Vice President, JD Vance. Vance brings true MAGA bona fides to the ticket, to the point where he did not support Trump until after he was convinced of Trump’s commitment to go full automatic MAGA.
Who knows why Trump is MAGA? It is astonishing that this billionaire is blue collar. Many speculate that at the beginning, this was a calculated and perfectly timed opportunistic embracing of America First by a politician with a well-tuned ear. He seemed to be a perfect amalgam of Pat Buchanan’s populism and Ann Coulter’s border policy – but with a smile and charisma. Perhaps it did start that way, and over time the attacks on him from the left brought to his attention, not the difference between right and left, but right and wrong. Nevertheless, he appears to have proven himself a true believer. He now bleeds, literally, with his supporters. But for Trump, and his background, MAGA must be an intellectual exercise. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but his is not a personal story of the forgotten America. That’s where Vance comes in. Trump merely adopted MAGA. Vance was born in it. Vance is an American son. He speaks to and for all of her forgotten sons. Anyone who has read his book Hillbilly Elegy – and everyone should – or who has lived it, in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Michigan can see that if this man can be raised in that life, and rise to the highest levels of society, then there is hope for America yet. He is exactly why American manufacturing needs to see a revival. He is what MAGA is all about; those abandoned by America and who pray for what it can be again. He speaks directly to those who have been left behind. Black, white and brown.
He knows the effects of the trade deals and Most Favored Nation status given to China. Not because he read it in a book. Not because he noticed it as he drove by in a motorcade. But because he lived it and the results of it formed him. He was there when Junior Bush cost Americans 50,000 factories and six million jobs. He knows what Bidenflation has done to groceries, baby food, rent, utilities, housing and gas. Flyover country saw that 2016 through 2020 was the best time to find and hold a job. Blacks, whites, women, everyone was lucky to be working under the Trump administration. Real income rose and hope was resurgent.
In a strange mirrored juxtaposition, Trump and Vance have both suffered adversity. It is odd to compare, though. Trump, who unquestionably worked hard his entire life, had it all; women, wealth and fame. To his credit, other than divorce and remarriage, he somehow avoided the pitfalls that can undermine someone with such a social status. He still has the status, but he now has a level of strife and stress that come with being reviled by his political enemies. Attempts at character and physical assassination, being called Hitler, prosecuted on politically motivated charges, hated, cursed and betrayed. By virtue of being thrust into the spotlight as an enemy of the media, Vance’s time will come for that, but he seems genuinely at peace right now. Vance’s rearing revolved around disfunction. From the hills of Kentucky to the washed-up and jobless inner cities of Ohio, his life was highlighted by being raised by his grandmother, in lieu of an addict mother. The biggest reason to cheer for the guy, and perhaps his most impressive feat is that he broke the cycle of a disjointed family. Anyone trapped in that cycle of disfunction will tell you that it is the secular version of trying to break generational sin. It seems that most of his resilience is because of his character. Not always perfect, it appears that through his voluntary vicarious discipline, he saved his family. It is a testament to him, his courage, his faith, his choice in an impressive girlfriend – now wife, and the US Marines. He was born Kentucky, not Kennedy.
The old guard is dead. It’s time to accept and recalibrate that this coalition is built by rural America and not casino capitalists. It doesn’t appear that we are going back any time soon, either. George Bush, the Cheneys, Paul Ryan and the bloated Chris Christie don’t endorse Trump/Vance. Who cares? Move on. They will either find a different party or get on board. No, not with Trump, not ever, but maybe JD, Vivek Ramaswamy, or Ron DeSantis. It is now a partly less based on military intervention and tax loopholes for carried interest. Good riddance. It is built on strength through peace, building back the American economy, and turning our attention inward.
Louis Biad is a contributor to Catholics for Catholics.
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