Colin Dueck's essay basically nails what's going on. Cultural and economic changes are breaking up the old political coalitions and recreating new ones across the globe. As it applies to America, that means the Republican Party is—like many of its center-right counterparts abroad—becoming less wedded to free markets, more open to economic intervention, and more serious about soothing cultural fears. There's not much party leaders displeased with this trend can do about it, since in a two-party democracy both parties' leaders ultimately follow the voters.
This latter statement surely sticks in the craw of many movement conservatives. In their view, conservatism represents a set of unerring, eternal truths which provide for happy, prosperous, decent societies. The political goal of the movement, in this view, is not to adapt to public sentiment; the goal is to change sentiment. Political adaptations such as that envisioned by advocates of a conservative populism are, according to this view, unprincipled and hence unconservative.
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