"The administration is not popular. After being elected on a platform of avoiding unnecessary wars, President Donald Trump and the GOP made the decision to risk a global recession and a potential Democratic sweep in the midterms by starting a war in the Middle East. Predictably, the Republicans are now the electoral underdogs and need to do some hard thinking about the future of the party and its policies."
"One potential coalition, which would be healthy for both the party and the country, would be between social conservatives and antiwar voters. Both of these groups played a significant role in the coalitions that swept Republicans back to power in 2024, and were subsequently let down by the second Trump presidency. Trump won the presidency a second time by focusing on the extremism of the Biden administration on social issues, whilst also explicitly running as the "pro-peace ticket.""
"In the time since the election, both of these groups have been repeatedly disappointed by the Trump administration, especially by the administration's war with Iran and its approval, through the FDA, of a new form of mifepristone, a dangerous abortion pill. As a result, both groups have become increasingly critical of the Trump administration."
"These two disappointed factions are naturally complementary coalition partners, particularly on the pro-life issue. There is a natural connection between the defense of innocent human life at home through pro-life policies and protecting it abroad by avoiding unjust wars. There's also a historical through-line; America's embrace of social liberalism followed our nation's abandonment of our Founding principles of geopolitical neutrality and nonintervention, and the rise of an increasingly insatiable appetite for empire abroad and foreign wars on the part of our leadership class, during and in the aftermath of the Second World War."
The administration lacks popularity after choosing to start a Middle East war despite promises to avoid unnecessary wars. Republicans face electoral underdog status and must reconsider party direction and policies. Social conservatives and antiwar voters, key contributors to Republican victories in 2024, have become increasingly critical after disappointment with the second Trump presidency. The administration’s war with Iran and FDA approval of a new mifepristone form have driven dissatisfaction, especially among pro-life voters. A complementary coalition is presented as natural because protecting human life through pro-life policies aligns with protecting life abroad by avoiding unjust wars. A historical pattern is described linking social liberalism and abandonment of geopolitical neutrality to increased intervention and empire-seeking leadership since World War II.
Read at The American Conservative
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]