What is the Republican party? Or should I ask, who are they?
Today’s Republicans are voting for populist leaders and upholding grievance politics. The current Republican party generates fear, frustration, and helplessness. While in the past, Republicans shunned the cult of victimization, the current iteration of the republican party lives for it.
Interestingly, the Trump presidency rallied culturally conservative voters against cosmopolitan elites in both parties — despite being a cosmopolitan elite himself.
Scholars say we are in disagreement over the dramatic changes that have transformed American society and culture since WWII.
Challenges posed by technological change, globalization, immigration, growing ethnic/racial diversity, changing family structure, and changing gender roles have produced diverging responses from party elites causing deeper divisions amongst us — you, me, our neighbors, our families.
This “great alignment” has transformed the American party system and fundamentally altered American politics in the twenty-first century.
On one side of this partisan divide are those who:
*have benefitted from and welcome the new American society
*including racial minorities
*the LGBT community
*religious moderates and skeptics
*more educated citizens who possess the skills to thrive in the economy of the twenty-first century
Those Americans voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
On the other side of the divide are:
*those who find these changes deeply troubling and threatening
*religious conservatives
*many less-educated whites in small towns and rural areas
Those Americans voted overwhelmingly for John McCain in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012, and Donald Trump in 2016.
(The above statement was paraphrased from the work of Alan Abramowitz, American Political Scientist, Ph.D., Stanford University, 1976).
Getting to my point, don’t worry, there is one. Most Republican leaders do not feel personally harmed or displaced by technological changes, globalization, immigration, or a growing ethnic diversity.
Is it not strange that Republican leaders are verbally at odds with changes in society that do not impact them? So what do the republican leaders and their conservative followers have in common in 2022?
Populism.
Scholars often describe populism as authoritarian. This wasn’t a political term commonly thrown around in my lifetime, so I had to read about it. I had to do that thing we often tell others to do: research.
Scholars who view populism as authoritarian say this:
*populists oppose political pluralism and minority rights
*claim to represent the majority of a given nation’s ordinary citizens against a small, privileged, and self-interested elite
*regularly indulge in conspiracy theories
*favor aggressive forms of identity politics
*disparage political opponents including “the establishment” as downright illegitimate
*erode constitutional norms
*deliberately undercut civil society
*press toward authoritarian forms of government
After reading that, I don’t see a Republican party anymore. I see the exact definition of populism. Well, actually I see a party that is at odds with itself. A sort of WWE Smack Down event, with rightward-leaning populist nationalism vs. orthodox conservative economic positions.
Populist movements on both the left and right have periodically reshaped one or both political parties, and there is much debate over whether populism is always authoritarian, but regardless of your definition, populism does have one unifying hallmark: it is anti-establishment.
So if the traditional Republican Party is shifting, who makes up the populist right doing the reshaping?
Populist Right are overwhelmingly White (85%). A majority of Populist Right are women (54%). Populist Right are also one of the least highly educated groups; just two-in-ten are college graduates. Just under half (45%) have a high school diploma or less education. (These statistics are from Pew Research).
Face palm. White women? Well, shit.
According to Pew Research, the Populist Right were nearly unanimous in their support for Trump in the 2020 presidential election and most continue to incorrectly say that Trump was the legitimate winner of the election.
Like other Republican-oriented groups, Populist Right generally say that the entertainment industry, technology companies, and labor unions are having a negative effect on the way things are going in the country today. They are also more likely to say this about both colleges and universities, and K-12 public schools than any other group aside from Faith and Flag Conservatives. Funny to note, that the current populist candidate for governor, Kari Lake, has almost no plans published for education in our state (which ranks 47 pre-k — 12).
Like the other Republican-oriented groups, a larger share (64%) report getting political news from Fox News more than from any other outlet among 26 national news sources asked about.
However, unlike the other Republican-oriented groups, the Populist Right also says that large corporations (82%) and financial institutions (60%) are having a negative impact on our country. The Progressive Left is the only group more critical of these institutions (this whole section came from Pew Research).
So there you have it. Right there. Republicans have grown so conservative, they lean towards populism, and have become Progressive Left adjacent. Ain’t that some shit.
The race between Lake and Hobbs is going to be close. You can vote for a conservative populist if you want, but after reading this, you can’t deny what you support.
Hobbs lacks Lake’s star power. She does not have 20 years behind a camera. She does not engage in political theater. I will not deny Lake has charisma, but charisma does not a leader make.
Kari Lake makes election lies and cultural grievances go down like a spoonful of sugar. Arizona Republicans have won six of the last eight governor’s races, and a group of Republican voters still feel the need to resort to intimidation at early voting ballot boxes. When did interfering with the right to vote become a good thing? When conservative populists flipped the truth to benefit their lies. Voting for an election denier is an attack on democracy.
Because of Lake’s comments, Katie Hobbs has to move with the assistance of police and security guards. Hobbs was the target of death threats when she defended our election systems and stood against false accusations of fraud.
Lake calls the media an enemy. She calls them “the right hand of the devil.” Since Lake was once a media darling, a popular local anchor, is she not ironically more like the devil herself, the fallen angel Lucifer? Who fell victim to a desire for power and position? If you’re going to use religion as a weapon, it’s only fair to draw those parallels.
Kari Lake is gaslighting and insulting, but is she planning? What’s a news anchor gonna do for you as governor? Look good on camera?
It’s polished anger vs. quiet work.
