Anti-Trump “conservatives” act as if they are the only group of people who have ever faced having a nominee of their party that they don’t like and don’t believe represents their party well, but I’ve got news for them. They aren’t. A lot of conservatives weren’t satisfied with Romney, McCain, Bush II, Dole, Bush I, etc. Guess what, Bernie supporters aren’t happy with Hillary and many leftists before weren’t happy with Kerry, etc. either, but the level of vitriol and the pathological inability to let it go and move on among the NeverTrumpers is unprecedented.
We have long been promised that if the convention coup plot failed, as everyone who knows anything about the process knew it would, and Donald Trump emerged as the Republican nominee, that the NeverTrump bitter-enders planned to put forth an independent challenger to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to represent self-proclaimed “real conservatism” and/or “real Republicanism.” After some teasing by author Brad Thor that never materialized, NeverTrump has found its candidate.
“I end with a new word, at least new to me. A friend called it to my attention. It speaks of the moment we’re in. It is “kakistocracy,” from the Greek. It means government by the worst persons, by the least qualified or most unprincipled. We’re on our way there, aren’t we?” ~ Peggy Noonan
Recently I wrote an article regarding Darcy Richardson’s candidacy for the Reform Party nomination. Well a funny thing happened at the Reform Party Convention last weekend. Instead of picking a nominee, they postpone the decision until 8 Aug.
I recently became aware that Darcy G. Richardson is seeking the Presidential nomination of the Reform Party. The Reform Party is holding its national convention starting today, 29 July through 31 July in Bohemia, New York. While I have never met Darcy personally, I consider him a virtual friend. We are both long time contributors to the third party news website Independent Political Report (IPR) as well as frequent commenters.
In early 2015, well before Donald Trump was a blip on the radar screen, a friend asked me to contribute an article to a Constitution Party newsletter, so I happily obliged. The article was entitled “Needed: a Real Country Party,” but because of the nature of the venue it was never made available for wide public viewing. I am currently working on an update of that article because I believe it helps explain why Donald Trump and Trumpism have succeeded beyond the wildest dreams (or nightmares) of the political and pundit class.
Bernie Sanders recently upset many of his supporters when he endorsed Hillary Clinton. I’m not a Bernie supporter, and I’m disappointed he endorsed Hillary, but I did have a certain grudging respect for the man as an honest old school leftist who focused on class rather than the Cultural Marxist grievance stoking and thought policing that characterizes the modern left. That said, I think it is useful to look at Bernie’s endorsement and how his supporters have reacted and contrast it to the NeverTrump effort.
This video by Steve Deace, who I believe to be one of the sincere but misguided leaders of the NeverTrump effort, is a perfect illustration of the insular nature of much of official conservatism. Deace concedes that the Establishment does not like Trump, but sees the Establishment’s unwillingness to join the NeverTrump crusade as an opportunistic effort to join forces with a supposedly anti-conservative Trump and attempt to crush authentic conservatism.
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