This election has the potential to be a change election. The #NeverTrump crowd, the Weekly Standard, George Will, John Kasich, the Bush family, and the like have really missed the boat. Clearly they're more concerned about the status quo than the country. And by the status quo, I specifically mean their status quo. They don't want outsiders getting inside the walls - not just Trump but also the electorate. What they are missing is the opportunity that the change represents.
If the polls are correct, Trump could be on his way to a victory - a possibly huge victory.
By avoiding the opportunity they've guaranteed themselves, should Trump win, a seat on the outside. The tactics made sense if Hillary remained ahead, even though the strategy was very flawed. But the tactics are falling apart too - denouncing Trump in the face of a potential Trump landslide.
Not only do they lose their seats of power on the inside, they're losing their base of followers, readers and supporters. They've trapped themselves in an ever-shrinking echo chamber.
Meanwhile, America may be on the brink of pulling itself away from the brink of irreversible decay. The Supreme Court, the military, the economy, and the removal of crony capitalism, bureaucracy, laws that encourage offshoring of jobs and Obamacare are all possible under a Trump presidency. They might not all be achieved in four years, but they become possible, and theoretically achievable in eight years. That's the real opportunity of the change. How anyone who calls themselves a conservative would not be onboard with that is unfathomable.
Trump will not solve everything. But even achieving a few of these things would be a massive success that could be built upon by future generations.
In addition, populism is not a dirty word. It's a different way of achieving the Reagan Big Tent approach to conservatism. If African Americans and legal Hispanics see significant gains under Trumpism, the potential for an electoral paradigm shift is also, huge.
Standing on the outside looking in is going to suck for those currently on the inside of the Republican hierarchy. Trust the rest of us - we know.
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