Vincent J. Curtis
11 Aug 2016
How much of the opposition to Donald Trump is not based on
policy differences but upon cultural snobbery?
I’m thinking of all the defections on the Republican side,
which at the moment includes six or seven US Senators, 50 foreign policy “experts,”
assorted Congressmen, National Review,
and even some state governors who are nursing hard feelings.
The effect of the defections of all these Republicans and
conservatives tends towards the election of Democrat Hillary Clinton. These Republicans are saying that they would
rather see Hillary Clinton and all the corruption she embodies elected president
than Donald Trump.
William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of National Review famously said that he would get behind the most
electable conservative in a race. Since
Hillary Clinton is no conservative, and the Libertarian candidate (whoever he
is) is not electable, that leaves the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, as the
most electable conservative in the presidential race.
National Review is
violating this sacred law of their sainted founder. The question is, why?
My answer is that it boils down to cultural snobbery.
All the defecting Republicans have some things in common:
they are culturally elevated, well educated, and while they may ridicule and
decry political correctness, they nevertheless live by its codes. A few might classify as intellectuals.
Trump more or less stomps on cultural elevation and
political correctness, and he speaks publically at a grade 4 level,
allegedly. And Trump won the Republican
nomination being all those things and by means of all those things. He won!
How annoying can that be to have this upstart rich guy, a newbie
Republican, who thinks he became conservative last week, who frequently
contradicts himself, and who seems to put his foot in his mouth every time he
opens it, mow down a strong field of candidates and win?
Trump dismissed the polished hundred million dollar favorite,
Jeb Bush, with a mere comment about his energy.
He drew more attention than the highly talented Marco Rubio, and he
outshone Dr. Ben Carson. Finally, he put
away the intensely focussed and brilliant conservative man of the hour, Ted
Cruz, as well as the rumpled policy expert John Kasich. And Trump did it by utterly unconventional
means: without fundraising or much of a ground organization. And these other candidates think they could
have stood up to the Clinton machine?
Trump simply went out and talked to people, everywhere, all
the time, and he said things they liked, and in a manner they understood. He smashed convention and hit the heart of
people’s real concerns. And those real
people are the heart of the Republican Party: white and high school educated.
Who knew an upstart billionaire would become the champion of
the working class, who flocked to the Republican Party to vote for him? All these real voters in their overalls, with
dirty hands, with their plain way of talking, and their concerns about where
the next paycheck was coming from, none of whom would think of attending a
Broadway play, invaded the Republican country club and elected Donald Trump as
its head! Now Republicans are defecting faster than southern states seceded from the Union, and for much the same
reason: we weren’t in for this.
It is hard to accept being bested by someone you regard as
beneath you. These fair-weather
Republicans are taking their ball and going home.
Given the damage to the body politic that would ensue by the
validation of the corruption of Hillary Clinton in her election as president,
you have to wonder how patriotic these defectors really are, and how seriously
we should have taken them in the first place.
Perhaps they have no lover for Donald Trump. But they ought to have love for their country.
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