As a leftist (not a liberal), I find myself reluctantly beginning to appreciate a number of Trump's stated positions. First, and most importantly, is his endorsement of protectionist measures, both in trade and in immigration. The free movement of labor, goods, and capital are the holy trinity of neoliberalism, and it is astonishing (to say the least) that a Republican has chosen to criticize two of the three. The capitalist elite must maintain a reserve army of the unemployed in order to keep wages low and induce fear in the working class; the importation of cheap labor and free trade are major weapons they employ to accomplish this. US workers compete against foreign workers either at home (economic migration) or abroad (free trade). Interestingly, one aspect Trump has neglected is the free movement of capital; US-based companies depend on repatriation of their profits from China (for example) when they partner with (or invest in) foreign firms. Traditionally, inernational capital has been able to count on the US to viorously enforce capital repatriation (on occasion by miltary force). If Trump really intends to get China to build iPhones in the US (as he has promised), he will have to tackle this from both the capital movement angle and the trade angle. One brilliant move Trump has made is to overtly inject the issue of class into Republican politics. The Democrats, following the lead of Michael Harrington and others (Port Huron Statement), made a strategic decision in the sixties to ditch the white working class voter as a component of its coalition. The rationale was that by abandoning conservative-leaning southerners the Democrats would be able to evolve into a European-style democratic socialist Party. Only the first part of this was accomplished - the Democratic Party evolved not in the direction of social democracy, but in the direction of hard neoliberalism. The Clintonocrat Wing is the apotheosis of this trend. White workers (not only in the south, but in the rustbelt) have been hit hard. I hear Democrats incessantly done on that this class is racist and sexist, and deserves their fate. This is an insane betrayal of FDR's New Deal, and Democrats have lost most of their credibility as the party of working families. It is encouraging to see Sanders begin to court workers again, but the Clinton wing will block any major efforts to improve their condition. One could point to Trump's critique of the failure and waste of the many military adventures following 9/11 and his calling out the lies at the heart of the Iraq invasion. It is heartening to see Trump is consulting Lieutenant General Michael Flynn on defense issues, who has advocated the United States to work more closely with Russia to resolve global security issues. The fact that the GOP neocon wing is in full panic mode can't be discounted. The problem with Trump, of course, is determining how much of this is real and how much is BS, and whether he has any intentions of carrying through his agenda.
Well thought out and written. The far right doesn't appreciate Trump's malleability, but on the other hand, it may increase the size of the GOP which they do need more people who fall into the center of the spectrum. I don't see Sanders or Clinton and the way they are continuously trying to out left each other appealing to the center in the general election.
This frankly is easy. There are of course no guarantees that Trump will want to or will be able to implement his agenda, there is an absolute certainty that all other candidates (Democrats and Republicans alike) won't even include these issues in their agendas, as you correctly stated. Why not give him a chance then? His enormous ego makes him want to go down in history as the best president ever, the president who made America great again. More power to him on this mission.
