A TRUE politician is someone who, upon spying a torch-wielding mob marching on his legislature, declares: “Oh good, a parade—I must lead it.” A striking number of conservatives are taking that approach ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20th. The president-elect’s followers include many who distrust both main parties and, if handed a pitchfork, might skewer half the Republicans in Congress. Undaunted, party bigwigs and intellectuals have begun making the case that, for all its rough edges, “Trumpism” is a recognisably conservative way of viewing the world, with the potential to rescue swathes of America from feelings of abandonment and despair, securing majorities for Republicans for years to come.
Republican leaders who clashed with Mr Trump during the election campaign now urge colleagues to see his victory as a lesson in humility. After the new Congress was sworn in on January 3rd Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, told members that for too long leaders in Washington had treated complaints about closed factories with “condescension”. Now Americans had let out a “great roar”, Mr Ryan continued: they...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2hVjyaP
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