Posted on 02/26/2021 4:00:01 AM PST by MtnClimber
In a trail of observations that began with Trump's campaign in 2015 and peaked during the last year of his life, the late Rush Limbaugh, as he was in and out of the studio battling cancer, was on a path to the previously unthinkable. He was ready to let go of the ideology he'd spent three decades promoting — Reaganite conservatism — and replace it with right-wing populism. Specifically, the right-wing populism of the just-defeated Republican president. Why?
Limbaugh, the self-proclaimed "mayor of Realville," was constantly trying to see around corners. What he saw was a political movement that offered more staying power and strength against the left than the ideological one he'd been associated with since 1988. That calculus wasn't based on election outcomes. It was informed by the first Republican voter realignment to occur since Reagan's election. Here is how Limbaugh described it in the days after Trump's Republican convention speech on the White House South Lawn last year:
Now, what emerged was the new Trump Republican Party. And it's a fascinating change. It's the party of the little guy. It's the party of working America, not politicians, not elitist think-tank denizens. It is literally the party of working Americans.
Limbaugh never missed the chance to rib what might be called Cruise Ship Conservatism. As an entertainer with a massive following, he found it ridiculous that other media personalities would cultivate the small-time celebrity role. But "elitist think-tank denizens" was a stand-in for the country club set, too. With a small-town upbringing and blue-collar audience, Limbaugh relished the idea of his being "the party of the little guy."
Limbaugh realized that right-wing populism was more appealing than conservatism to the little guy.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Trump was a nationalist a word that has been wrongly given a bad connotation by the left.
I think that was obvious after the 2016 election. There was a marked shift IMO in Rush's stated opinions on the air about how the Republican party needed to adapt -- followed by his frustrations somewhere in 2018/2019 that they'd failed to do so even after the Democrat's failed impeachment.
I think Rush was a true Reagan Conservative Republican which by today's standard (IMO) is where President Trump is. Yes, I still call him President Trump because Biden was not legitimately elected.
President Reagan always spoke about the little guy in similar ways that President Trump did (and does still.)
Some people call President Trump a Nationalist. I disagree. I think he's very much a Reagan Conservative who's willing to take on the Dem's on their own turf taking the battle straight to them much like President Reagan did. The only difference between President Reagan and President Trump (again, IMO) is that Reagan was gentle about it and Trump is a pugilist who's unafraid to take the battle to the Democrats using their own tactics against them.
I do not recall President Reagan ever using similar terms or tactics against the Democrats. There were times he was irritated with their tactics and let them know about it, then rallied the American people to his side to blow up the Capitol Hill switchboards but that was about it to the best of my aging recollection.
President Trump on the other hand isn't afraid to throw the first punch (so to speak) and set the Democrats back on their heels with a bloody nose. That's EXACTLY what the Conservative movement needs these days (again, IMO.)
In closing: Trump 2024!
the bush family hijacked the conservative movement … today I dont think of the leadership in the republican party of the 2000s through 2010s as real conservative. for those in Washington it was a means to gaining power and a lot of times they seemed to be working against conservativism . I look at populism as a distinct thought processes that can work with conservative principle and give it strength and resilience to push against leftist crap. conservatism with out action can not take on the left and populism is providing the energy that’s needed.
The next election[Should the Democrats allow one] The Battle cry of the Establishment Republican Party will be "Elect us to defeat the Democrats! "And the sheep will fall back in line. At which time the Democrat Party will employ the same tactics on them they used on President Trump while the Republicans stood around with their fingers up their butt, snickering.
I guess we need to define “consevtive”..
I would like to conduct an experiment..
Please respond with one item in one sentence something that defines a conservative..
I will summarize and post results when finished.
This could get interesting
“So it wasn’t the best way then. Admit it..”
Arguable...the unions had to be broken first, they were KILLING the country back then.
“The author tries to paint a false dichotomy Conservatism vs America First Populism. Consequently the rest of the article is pure garbage.”
Well said. That was my first thought after reading the article. The author implies that conservatism and Republicans are part and parcel of the same package. Hence the false dichotomy. The majority of Republican politicians have not been conservative for many years.
As the Mayor of Realville he finally came to the conclusion that Conservatism Inc. was a complete failure run by sellouts. Rush was a patriot above all and realized that true change would only come from like minded compatriots.
Conservatism as a set of guiding principles is all well and good. As a political movement though, it is dead and useless, having conserved nothing. The fight of our time is Globalism vs Nationalism.
No. Are unions a bad thing? Yes. But they weren't killing anything. Throwing away our industrial base was too high a price to pay.
“No. Are unions a bad thing? Yes. But they weren’t killing anything. Throwing away our industrial base was too high a price to pay.”
That’s more than what I thought we’d agree on. But sorry, unions were right up there with pollution regulations and to a lesser extent, labor laws (although both pollution regulations and labor laws are needed as businesses won’t lift a finger in those areas, unless forced to - the problem is when they go way overboard)
I almost didn't read this article because of how dumb the title is. Rush Limbaugh DEFINED conservatism for the last 30 years!!! I suspect that it was some editor who titled the article without reading it. This article goes through what I had felt over the last few years of listening to Rush but didn't understand at the time. Rush had Steve Bannon on his show in 2019 and Rush at that time repeated and completely agreed with the whole populist nationalism agenda. This political realignment has been a long time coming, but the theft and coverup of the last election has made it impossible to go back to the way it used to be. It's a long article, but I think that it gets it right.
I was not going to post the article, but just read it to see what someone I disagree with thought about this. I agree that the title does no service to the article.
No, an advance nation doesn’t throw away the heart of it’s economy decease it doesn’t like unions. That is stupid, dangerous and will cost us everything.
“No, an advance nation doesn’t throw away the heart of it’s economy decease it doesn’t like unions. That is stupid, dangerous and will cost us everything.”
The country was being destroyed from within by the unions anyway - their leaders should have thought about that, so now we’re stuck with the unions creating what China has become.
41 was a moderate.
Dole was another moderate against slick.
43 was moderate but had the fortune of running against two unlikeable candidates in gore and kerry.
mcstain was moderate who happened to run up against a dynamic bi-racial candidate.
romney...same issue.
Trump is the first to come close to Reagan in espousing a conservative viewpoint.
And then he rain into COVID and dominion.
Bob WWII was won by out producing the enemy, who did that exactly?
“Bob WWII was won by out producing the enemy, who did that exactly?”
Considering that the unions didn’t see a need to load our supply ships in NYC, I’d say they certainly weren’t very helpful (and stunts like that didn’t help their cause with me).
Bob,
Do you know what percent of the US workforce is currently in a union? I do and it is not a large percentage at all. Yesterday’s war.
You’ve told me half a dozen times here...but that WAS NOT the case in the 70s, 80s, and part of the 90s.
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