The GOP needs a MAGA candidate who doesn’t pick fights. Like Nikki Haley.
As the campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination heats up, I’ve been pondering what kind of candidate can survive the primaries and win the general election, too.
My favorite all-time newspaper columnist is Patrick J. Buchanan, not just because I share most of his political views, but also because of his concise and unambiguous writing style.
He says what he thinks, leaving no doubt about his intent. When Buchanan sought the GOP presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996, he had my vote both times.
In 2016, Buchanan was essentially reimagined in the form of Donald Trump, who had the advantage of great personal wealth, a national celebrity profile and the magnetism to expand the GOP beyond its shrinking country-club conservative base with a more populist message.
When Trump pulled off the biggest upset in modern electoral history, I wanted to interpret his win as proof that the United States had decisively repudiated liberalism in general and “wokeism” specifically, instead embracing the populist-conservatism that Buchanan had foreshadowed and Trump manifested.
I realize now that Trump won not because of any momentous political reset, but because the Democrats had nominated the one candidate in America — Hillary Clinton — more disliked in most states than even Trump. Learning from their mistake, Democrats in 2020 selected Joe Biden, the blandest, least controversial candidate in the field, and Trump was toast.
Still, Trump captured the Republican nomination in 2016 by vanquishing an impressive collection of old-school Republicans — remnants of a dying party — doing so with an infusion of stridently antiestablishment voters. The challenge for today’s GOP is to nominate a candidate who can build on the party’s new foundation to win general elections.
One popular notion holds that appealing to swing voters requires a moderate or “centrist” contender. First, such a candidate would never survive the Republican primaries. Second, most candidates labeled “moderates” are just less vociferous liberals. A 2019 voter analysis in FiveThirtyEight found that “moderates are more likely to be Democrats. The average moderate . . . is solidly center-left on both economic and immigration issues,” adding that “for decades Democrats ran away from the ‘liberal’ label, leaving ‘moderate’ as the only self-identification refuge for many Democrats.”
A competing notion — one that I initially embraced — is that the ideal 2024 GOP nominee will be much like Trump in style without actually being Trump. But now, reminding myself that swing voters are nothing like me — I know what I believe in; they apparently decide such things election by election — I think that’s wrong. I like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a lot, which probably means he should not be the nominee. Like Trump, DeSantis delights in picking fights. He achieves victory through the brute force of GOP supermajorities in the Florida legislature.
While Trumpist policies drive the modern GOP, Republicans must realize that engaging in gentle persuasion is a better course than bullying and snide putdowns designed to “own” the left. To attract swing voters, conservatives should explain logically why illegal immigration is dangerous for everyone, why “free” things from the government are really quite costly, and why drilling and mining fossil fuels are still in our nation’s best interests, among other principles.
The next president should also actually love the United States — not just a preferred, flag-hugging concept of what the nation should be, but all the inhabitants of this country. It’s not easy for conservatives to love those who seem obsessed with issues such as transgender rights, racial grievances, “environmental justice” and climate change. It’s hard for liberals to love “MAGA Republicans” or people opposed to more gun laws or working to end legal abortion.
But the ideal president would truly express love for all Americans and lower the rhetorical temperature. That doesn’t mean all things are condoned or supported. It just means that our elected leaders — especially our presidents — wouldn’t despise or disparage millions of their fellow citizens because of cultural or political differences.
As I began writing this column, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley announced her candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination. I listened to her speech and thought to myself that Haley is plenty “MAGA” enough for most Republican primary voters, but with enough empathy to attract independents and other swing voters in the general election. Maybe — just maybe — it’s finally time for a woman’s touch, sans the toxic masculinity of too many male politicians.
Some on the left will call that a sexist remark, while many on the right will complain that it’s a surrender to “woke” ideology.
Whichever side you’re on — and in the spirit of setting an example for my ideal future president — let’s agree not to belittle each other over it. Feels better already, right?