The Jacksonians.

Medium ^

[FarCenter]

...

Walter Mead, in an essay in Foreign Affairs, described the politics underlying Trump’s rise and enduring appeal as follows:

The distinctively American populism Trump espouses is rooted in the thought and culture of the country’s first populist president, Andrew Jackson. For Jacksonians — who formed the core of Trump’s passionately supportive base — the United States is not a political entity created and defined by a set of intellectual propositions rooted in the Enlightenment and oriented toward the fulfillment of a universal mission. Rather, it is the nation-state of the American people, and its chief business lies at home. Jacksonians see American exceptionalism not as a function of the universal appeal of American ideas, or even as a function of a unique American vocation to transform the world, but rather as rooted in the country’s singular commitment to the equality and dignity of individual American citizens. The role of the U.S. government, Jacksonians believe, is to fulfill the country’s destiny by looking after the physical security and economic well-being of the American people in their national home — and to do that while interfering as little as possible with the individual freedom that makes the country unique.

Jacksonian populism is only intermittently concerned with foreign policy, and indeed it is only intermittently engaged with politics more generally. It took a particular combination of forces and trends to mobilize it this (2016) election cycle, and most of those were domestically focused. In seeking to explain the Jacksonian surge, commentators have looked to factors such as wage stagnation, the loss of good jobs for unskilled workers, the hollowing out of civic life, a rise in drug use — conditions many associate with life in blighted inner cities that have spread across much of the country. But this is a partial and incomplete view. Identity and culture have historically played a major role in American politics, and 2016 was no exception. Jacksonian America felt itself to be under siege, with its values under attack and its future under threat. Trump — flawed as many Jacksonians themselves believed him to be — seemed the only candidate willing to help fight for its survival.

[FarCenter]

This may explain the appeal of Trump to the post-globalist, post-business Republican party, which is now an amalgam of former Dixiecrats, Reagan Democrats, and Tea Partiers.

[lightman]

Sort of resembles the flipping of earth’s magnetic poles.

[ifinnegan]

First thing Trump did was try to turn N. Korea, a bold and brave move.

[Olog-hai]

The reason Trump’s support has never wavered since he lost the 2020 presidential election …

He didn’t lose, John Ellis formerly of the Boston Globe.

[cowboyusa]

Yep, you nailed it!

[Chad C. Mulligan]

Can’t grasp what Mead is trying to get across here. Certainly some of Trump’s greatest accomplishments were in foreign policy, beginning in the Middle East. Would also say that pulling China up short in its’ trade cheating was a foreign policy victory.

I think Mead’s complaint stems from the fact that Trump wasn’t about to be led around by the nose by the effete snobs who inhabit Foggy Bottom. Terribly uncouth, you know, to get results without us. Spoils the collegial atmosphere at our dinner parties.

[matthew fuller]

Chk bk later for later results.

[Reverend Wright]

Mead is a little more sophisticated than that.

What he wants is to use the threat of the Jacksonians (America’s most aggressive and warlike group) to frighten other countries so that they acquiesce to the business and foreign policy interests of America’s elites.

[FLT-bird]

Jacksonians see American exceptionalism not as a function of the universal appeal of American ideas, or even as a function of a unique American vocation to transform the world, but rather as rooted in the country’s singular commitment to the equality and dignity of individual American citizens. The role of the U.S. government, Jacksonians believe, is to fulfill the country’s destiny by looking after the physical security and economic well-being of the American people in their national home — and to do that while interfering as little as possible with the individual freedom that makes the country unique.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Correct. We are not globalists. We do not think the blood and treasure of our people should be wasted on any globalist projects of "regime change" or "nation building". Mind our own business, stop infringing on American's constitutional rights, roll back intrusive and oppressive government and look after our economic interests first and foremost.

That is what our elected representatives should focus on. Trump actually gets that. Few others do.

[dmacg]

John Prescott Ellis is an admitted HW Bush Republican and he is first cousin of George W bush, but he is also an excellent journalist (IMHO) and observer of the current scene. He has excellent advice here for the challengers of Trump.

They won’t beat Trump by trashing him. They must honor him first, which is a very difficult and strange way to challenge him. His Presidency was LOADED with accomplishments, many of them erased by Biden and by covid. Dismiss those accomplishments and you dismiss his voters which happen to be the majority of the party whose endorsement you seek.