“True fact,” “filled to capacity,” “ATM machine.” To this list of redundancies, Talking Points Memo editor and publisher Josh Marshall might add “conservative general-election challenger to Donald Trump.” Regarding what righty activists might do if Trump gets the Republican nomination, Marshall contended in a Friday post that “if you run a 'movement conservative' against Trump, it gets pretty hard to see where you can find any real points of contrast on any significant issues” other than trade policy.
Marshall asserted that “the real differences” between Trump and movement conservatives “seem to be interrelated but threefold. One: Trump just isn't a member of the club. Two: Trump is too boorish, vulgar and authoritarian even if his broad issue agenda is broadly similar to our own. Three: He didn't used to believe this stuff. So he's an either an opportunist or a phony.” But all of that, opined Marshall, matters to only a “tiny smattering of voters.”
From Marshall’s piece (bolding added):
A moderate or establishment independent bid…would provide a very clear contrast with Trump. But if you run a 'movement conservative' against Trump, it gets pretty hard to see where you can find any real points of contrast on any significant issues.
So, hardline on illegal immigration? No real difference.
Hardline on terrorism, needing to say "Islamic terrorism", creeping Sharia or any of the rest. No real difference.
Huge, huge tax cut? Same.
Obamacare terrible? Same.
Generalized opposition to 'political correctness'? Check.
Abortion? Check.
Hating on Obama as feckless, exotic loser? Check.
The one big, big issue where there is a real disagreement is on trade…But frankly, aside from that, there's just not that much there.
…There are…differences on taxes. Difference on particulars of foreign policy. But they tend to be either subtle or very small fine print…
The real differences seem to be interrelated but threefold. One: Trump just isn't a member of the club. Two: Trump is too boorish, vulgar and authoritarian even if his broad issue agenda is broadly similar to our own. Three: He didn't used to believe this stuff. So he's an either an opportunist or a phony.
If you're a conservative intellectual or [a movement conservative]…each of these three points could have a lot of traction. But conservative intellectuals and [movement conservatives] only make up a tiny smattering of voters…
…We're halfway through a national election among the country's most conservative voters: Republican primary voters. And Trump is simply crushing the opposition. Indeed the only candidate who has been able to mount any significant challenge is Ted Cruz, whose position on most key issues is fairly difficult to distinguish from Trump's.
