Does Donald Trump’s popularity among Republicans indicate that a big part of the GOP base is more authoritarian than it is conservative? Yes, suggested Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas in a Friday post.
“The crazies don't really care about any conservative platform, they just want someone to reflect their own bigotries and xenophobia, all the while telling the weenies to fuck off,” wrote Kos. “They'd be just as excited if it was Hulk Hogan playing the role.” He remarked that Trump has a flair for “the kind of braggadocio that appeals to the conservative lizard brain” and concluded, “Remember how hot Vladmir Putin made conservatives? Donald Trump is the GOP's homegrown Vladimir Putin.”
From Kos’s post (bolding added):
In the National Review:
In recent weeks, the Times reports, “Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on American companies that put their factories in other countries,” and vowed too to “increase taxes on the compensation of hedge fund managers.” Elsewhere, he has brazenly channeled Elizabeth Warren in tone — “didn’t build this country”; “fair share”; “got lucky” — and promised increases in government spending that are demonstrably unsustainable. Alas, he has suffered scant pushback for his heresy. Honesty requires us to acknowledge that had President Obama endorsed exactly the same policies and rhetoric, the reaction from the Trumpkins would have been little short of nuclear.
Not a bad point. Trump is teflon, standing strong despite apostasies that would've felled lesser candidates, and no one can figure out why. Krugman's theory makes sense: "It’s really about who’s boss, and making sure that the man in charge stays boss. Trump is admired for putting women and workers in their place, and it doesn’t matter if he covets his neighbor’s wife or demands trade wars."
The crazies don't really care about any conservative platform, they just want someone to reflect their own bigotries and xenophobia, all the while telling the weenies to fuck off (be it Jeb Bush, or Barack Obama). They'd be just as excited if it was Hulk Hogan playing the role…
In the aggregate, [support for Trump] really is mostly about [hating] the brown people, with a dash of "I hate the GOP establishment and Trump can't be bought." But other Republicans are equally horrific on immigration, so what else sets Trump apart? His masterful use of media to project the kind of braggadocio that appeals to the conservative lizard brain. Remember how hot Vladmir Putin made conservatives? Donald Trump is the GOP's homegrown Vladimir Putin.
