Trump’s Appeal: Populism Or Punishment?

Populism

Over the weekend, I sat down with a GOP political consultant that has been in the business for over 30 years.

When the topic of Trump came up (which took twelve seconds) he proclaimed, “He’s a populist!”

Just like the labels “Conservative” and “Republican” have become meaningless as one movement or another has hijacked them, so has the term “populist.”

People think of Pappa Bush or John McCain or the GOP’s milquetoast messaging when they think of the term “populist.”

The Republican Establishment thinks it has to have populist appeal to reach the most voters.

But that’s not at all what the term means.

Populism, in its proper definition, is a rejection of the ruling class by the “regular” folks.

And those regular folks are pissed.

In a quote to the New York Times, Laura Ingraham got it right and wrong.

She stated, “The establishment GOP is lying to itself. This election at its core is a rejection of their globalist economic agenda and failed immigration policies – and the rule by the donor class.”

Correctamundo.

But then the radio talk show host continued, “Millions want the party to go in a more populist direction.”

That doesn’t even make any sense.

It’s comparable to saying, “Bankers want people to store more money under their mattress.”

The day the GOP goes populist is the day it emails its millions of donors to say, “We suck, donate to get us fired.”

Populism is a term that applies to the mood of the masses and since the rise of Barack Obama and the TEA Party, the masses of both the left and the right are screaming, “throw them out!”

Donald Trump’s appeal can’t really be based upon his policy stances, as they are so vague it takes twenty calls to the Psychic Friends Network to figure out what he really may do.

Instead, the billionaire’s appeal is that he is willing to stand at the top of Mount Government and beat back every crony politician and their henchmen . . . just because.

Americans, Republican and Democrat alike, want to punish the establishment politicians who have ruled government for decades, and nearly ruined it.

Closing the discussion with the longtime GOP consultant, he eventually said, “yeah, Trump isn’t a policy visionary, he’s the monkey wrench that will reset government.”

Adam Campbell is a former military brat, who grew up all over the world--but considers Milwaukee, WI, where he and his wife currently live, to be his home. He enjoys reporting the real news, without bias.