Jan. 24, 2017
Lee Drutman wrote for Vox about why Trump won’t be a conventional Republican:
In the weeks between Donald Trump’s election and his inauguration, commentators and politicians eager to see what kind of president Trump would be mostly looked to his Cabinet choices. And in those Cabinet choices, they saw signs that Trump would govern mostly as a conventional Republican.
Then came his inauguration speech, in which he returned in force to the nationalist-populist themes of his campaign. As with the campaign, his rhetoric went to dark, sometimes apocalyptic places, the places where his mix of strong-armed economic nationalism and tough law and order would be most needed.
So the question remains: Will Trump try to remake the Republican Party in his nationalist-populist vision? Or will he just govern as a conventional conservative Republican?