Kimball: Fight for the soul of the GOP yet to come

Donald Kimball

Submitted photo

Former president Donald Trump’s effect on the Republican Party has been substantial and swift. Once seen as a battle between the traditional establishment and a populist movement, the latest Republican National Convention confirmed that Trump has shaped the Republican Party in his image. His legacy will leave a mark, but not one that is entirely shaped or settled.

Should Trump win in November, the real battle for the future of the Republican Party will be fought in 2028. The names may have changed, but the clash of big government and small government conservatism is far from over.

While the GOP once held itself as the party of “limited government,” Trump’s 2016 campaign bucked that principle as a guiding star. Promising to reduce government size, scope and role was often seen as a litmus test of Republican campaigns, even as they rarely enact that vision once in office.

Trump’s campaign promises were as likely to introduce a new government program as they were to eliminate one. While he promises to eliminate the Department of Education, he also promises to fund free online classes.

He chased out old party elites, not based on political alignment but on their willingness to pledge loyalty. Eight years after his first campaign, formerly fierce critics have now wholeheartedly endorsed Trump despite contradictory policy views.

His mishmash of policy positions reveals no formal principles, merely the whims of his mind. He railed against Obamacare for years but has promised to replace it with another program that provides “insurance for everybody.” In this way, the “American First” or “MAGA” movement’s only rudder to this point has been whatever Trump’s latest rally speech said.

His eventual vacancy as the official leader of the party will open the power vacuum, and Republicans will have to choose, yet again, what the party will look like.

The contrast of rising stars of the movement previews two directions it could go. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s vice-presidential pick, is interested in big government policies like raising the minimum wage and has praised regulators like Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. Newly minted MAGA darling Vivek Ramaswamy, however, lauds free-trade policies and has called for a “Libertarian-Nationalist alliance.”

Both speak in populist overtones, and both claim conservative credentials. Their policy prescriptions couldn’t look more different.

This is the Trump effect. Both were former critics of the president but have changed their rhetoric to be fiercely loyal to him; both appeal to a populist conservatism but have opposite solutions. In many ways, America First is a cultural movement based more on vibes than specific policy agreements. When the glue that holds them all together disappears, it will be a time to choose.

Liberty-minded Republicans speak boldly to steer the party back to a basis of small government and individual responsibility. Rather than campaigning for fix-all promises from government “solutions,” the Republican Party should focus on making the case for free markets and free speech, and pushing against the tide of ever-encroaching government.

We already have one major party that wants the government to control your wallet; it would be a shame to lose their most prominent opposition. Republicans can embrace populist economics more in line with Bernie Sanders than economist Thomas Sowell, or they can take the opportunity to live up to the limited-government principles they once espoused. Both factions will be vying to be the heir apparent of the movement. It’s unclear who will emerge victorious, but the fight is just starting. Let’s hope they choose the path of prosperity for all and freedom from government.

Editor’s note: Donald Kimball is a fellow with America’s Future. Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.