Early lessons of the Trump whirlwind

The Week ^ | January 27, 2017 | W. James Antle III

[2ndDivisionVet]

We're just a week into Donald Trump's presidency. But already, you can see how this brand of politics could wind up being a viable model for future Republican majorities — or a Pyrrhic victory for the GOP.

Trumpism is potentially very popular. A Morning Consult poll taken after the president's inaugural address found voters responding favorably to his "America First" message (taken both literally and seriously, without the phrase's historical baggage). When Trump said, "From this moment on, it's going to be America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families," 65 percent agreed, including 64 percent of independents and half of Democrats. Roughly six in ten, including 48 percent of Democrats, agreed with Trump that the federal government should "buy American and hire American."

But it goes beyond the polls. This week Trump met at the White House with labor leaders who had mostly supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign. The union bosses came away raving.

"He intends to do the work on the issues he discussed on the campaign trail," said North America's Building Trades Unions president Sean McGarvey. "It was by far the best meeting I've had" in the nation's capital.

The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, which Trump greenlighted, actually split the Democratic coalition far more than most media coverage suggests. Environmentalists adamantly oppose the projects, but labor unions were often supportive — because these pipelines and others like them have the potential to create jobs for their members....

[Duke C.]

My head is spinning from all this winning.