The kind of person who will come into the next conservative administration is going to be governed by one principle, and that is destroying the grasp that political elites and unelected technocrats have over the average person.
Kevin Roberts (Heritage Foundation)
Newt Gingrich thinks the GOP, especially Trump, should wage a populist culture war against the liberal elites ruining America. He looks back to the left’s attacks on centrist Nixon (began EPA and ended Vietnam War), who responded by unleashing “speechwriter Pat Buchanan and Vice President Spiro Agnew” to wage “a relentless culture war against the Left” in 1972. Nixon won 60.7% of the popular vote and 49 states.
Quick, what do you think of America’s political elites right now? Partisan prosecutors hounding Trump, EPA officers regulating dust levels on farmland, a defense secretary going AWOL, and DEI officers at businesses and schools. The guess here is you think they are too liberal, too partisan, and not that good at their jobs. You’re not alone – not when only 23.9% of voters say America’s “on the right track” (source: Real Clear Politics).
Americans want to wrest the USA back from the political class, and a populist wave in November looks all but certain. Take Iowa, where caucus-going Republicans put “immigration” before “jobs and the economy” as the #1 issue. Don’t scoff, because 86% of Hispanic Democrats say “major fixes” are needed on US borders (source: Pew Research). Everyone knows Biden undid Trump’s border policy; thereby doubling the illegal alien population to 20.2 million.
It’s not that “jobs and the economy” don’t matter in 2024. It’s that working-class voters know the Nanny State does not create gainful employment – not since globalization decided the fates of factories – a lesson learned in 2009 when Obama’s stimulus package created a “jobless” recovery. Native-born workers believe immigrants take jobs and suppress wages, which is why Trump has promised to deport millions of illegal aliens.
Look at New Hampshire: AP VoteCast found 8 in 10 Republicans want “big change or total upheaval” in how the country is governed. These are the folks that went along with COVID policies, until the health bureaucracy proved incompetent, and social media censored critical citizens for spreading “misinformation” online. If Kennedy’s run against a government-pharmaceutical/media cartel and climbed to 41% approval, what does that say (source: ABC News)?
COVID begat remote learning, where parents watched politicized educators indoctrinate kids on race, religion, and gender, and saw firsthand how teachers unions kept blue-state schools closed too long. Nikki Haley’s pledged to “fix” how government works and Trump says he’ll fire partisan federal employees with secret agendas. Right on, because 58% of Black Democrats now want private-school vouchers.
At the heart of the matter is we the people have lost faith in the political class to operate a government for the people. A populist wave is building because the Nanny State fell $34.2 trillion in debt without improving public education, or solving income inequality and illegal immigration. No wonder the Real Clear Betting Average has Trump up 8.4 points over Biden.
Voters want apolitical competence, and a majority realize the Nanny State is not all that. Only 19 million Americans opted for Obamacare in 2023, compared to 159 million who chose company-provided health insurance. 70% of Americans have retired or will retire with company-provided 401K plans, which are backed by $6.9 trillion in real assets. In contrast, the value of the Social Security trust fund is now just a $2.7 trillion “obligation” to be paid out of the national debt.
In a character debate between their employers and the federal government, Americans trust private companies. And about 75% wonder WHAT the political class has been doing, if it hasn’t balanced the budget or fixed America’s problems. Suffice it to note Haley and Trump agree on this one. The government has been indoctrinating children, intimidating businessmen, and shape-shifting American culture. It’s time to throw the bums out.
Churchill observed that “nations that went down fighting rose again” and Ron DeSantis told Republicans, we have this one opportunity to get it right, and we’re not getting a mulligan.
So, if you don’t want four more years of hiring indoctrinated bureaucrats to do stupid sh*t (like discharging 3,000 battle-hardened soldiers for refusing the COVID vaccine when Army recruiting’s down 25%), catch the populist buzz – – or start choosing your new pronouns.
