Establishment Republicans Are Getting What They Deserve

Donald Trump is often characterized by the establishment media (and his vanquished opponents) as a bully. 

A bully, as you know, is a guy who picks on smaller and defenseless targets, like Governor Jeb Bush with his $100 million war chest, the Wall Street interests that have put over $50 million into Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and the truculent Muslims and other agents of political correctness who, through their vast influence in the politically correct establishment media, are trying to bend every aspect of American life to their will—those defenseless little guys. 

The reality is that Donald Trump is no bully. The real bullies in American society are the Far Left elite, the activists and advocates for special rights for newly invented “minority” groups, the judges and government bureaucrats that impose them at the point of a gun on reluctant Americans, and the millionaires and billionaires who fund shadowy organizations to advocate for open borders, more immigration and trade deals that are wrecking the quality of life for millions of American families.

The bullying by the Far Left elite of average Americans who simply want to be left alone has become so oppressive that the laws of physics and politics were bound to create an equal and opposite reaction, and in an unlikely (and unpredicted by most pundits) turn of events billionaire Donald Trump has become the personification of that reaction.

A large segment of the country class electorate rightly feels betrayed by the ruling elite of this country and Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to make sure voters understand that, even though he’s a billionaire, he’s one of them, and not part of the coastal elite.

In fact, he’s made himself into the message carrier and counter force to virtually the entire coastal elite agenda. 

Last August in his article “Yes, Pander To Trump On Immigration” National Review Editor Rich Lowry explained why Donald Trump’s message on the immigration issue may have sounded like bullying to Trump’s elite targets, but was music to the ears of America’s hard-pressed working families:

What Trump offers is an entirely different framework for considering the issue. It is populist rather than elitist, and nationalist rather than cosmopolitan. It rejects the status quo rather than attempting to codify it. It puts enforcement first and dares to ask whether current high levels of legal immigration serve the country’s interest. In short, it takes a needed sledgehammer to the lazy establishment consensus on immigration.

And most importantly Lowry joined us in our view that the Trump plan is so uncontroversial that it should qualify as pablum: “Real immigration reform puts the needs of working people first—not wealthy globe-trotting donors.” Who could disagree?

Well, those who Trump “bullied” during the Republican primaries, like Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Marco Rubio among others.

Those Republicans who reject the Trump candidacy because of Trump’s alleged “bullying” would do well to re-read Ronald Reagan’s 1980 acceptance speech wherein he delivered this indictment of America’s ruling elite:

The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership—in the White House and in Congress—for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. They tell us they have done the most that humanly could be done. They say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.

My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view. The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation.

In Trump’s formulation the crisis and its authors were similar:

And that the Republican Party would get 60 percent more votes than it received eight years ago. Who would have believed it? The Democrats on the other hand, received 20 percent fewer votes than they got four years ago, not so good.

Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order.

Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Far from being a bully, the key to Donald Trump’s campaign, and indeed a key to his entire political world view, may be found in a few paragraphs of his acceptance speech that he addressed to America’s working men and women, and especially
 this:

My dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he’d say if he were here to see this tonight. It’s because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people.

He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. I love those people.

Donald Trump won the Republican primaries and the GOP nomination because he convinced a large percentage of America’s country class voters— bricklayers, carpenters and electricians—that he would stand for them against the abuse and oppression of elite policy and opinion.

Country class voters know a bully when they see one, and they believe they are being bullied daily by an out-of-touch and insulated elite that holds them in contempt. They understand that the guy who punches your oppressor in the mouth isn’t a bully, he’s your champion. If Donald Trump is a bully, then he’s the much needed counter-bully the country class has been waiting for.

George Rasley is editor of ConservativeHQ, a member of American MENSA and a veteran of over 300 political campaigns, including every Republican presidential campaign from 1976 to 2008. He served as lead advance representative for Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and has served as a staff member, consultant or advance representative for some of America’s most recognized conservative Republican political figures, including President Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. He served in policy and communications positions on the House and Senate staff, and during the George H.W. Bush administration he served on the White House staff of Vice President Dan Quayle.