As liberalism and leftism grow leaps and bounds with the help of theleftist Senator Bernie Sanders of Democratic Party, we cannot say that isapplicable to conservatism of Republican Party in the era of Donald Trump.
The presumptive GOP presidential candidate, Donald Trump has never claimedto be grounded in conservative philosophy. Rather he always showcases hispolitical pragmatisms and populism which the conservative Republicangrassroots soaked and imbibed. As Trump wins the primary elections in hisparty with populism and semi-conservative outlines:
Is good ol’ American conservatism losing steam and momentum? What is thefuture of conservatism with Trump at helm of affairs?
Since the days of Barry Goldwater and President Ronald Reagan,conservatives have managed to silence moderates in Republican Party whileideology of rightism has been identified as the gospel of GOP. Any seriouscandidate who aspires for GOP presidential nomination must make sure thathis conservative credential is impeccable, credible and unquestionable.
But after two terms of President Obama, it is beginning to appear thatmajority of conservative voters have decided to forget or eclipse theirold standing conservative values for a Whitehouse victory. With anythingor anybody for victory, they are willing to trade and bend their valuesfor the defeat of Obama and Hillary Clinton’s Democratic Party. This ishow Trump emerged because the yearning desire for victory has come tosupersede their right-wing leanings.
Sometime it is difficult to distinguish between Donald Trump and BernieSanders. When the later speaks on trade and foreign policy, he echoedsame values and proposals like Trump. Senator Sanders standing on tradeis not a surprise because the left has been known for not being whollyacceptable of free trade.
The left inclination to hinder free trade for protection of working classjobs have always been their currency of international commercenegotiation. But that cannot be said of GOP that holds the view that openand free trade is good for everybody.
Republican Party standing on comparative advantage of nation isunquestionable for with fewer tariffs and more trade, nations becomericher, closer and their diplomatic relationship solidify and consolidate.While Democratic Party seems to uphold that trade protectionism and highertariffs on foreign goods are tools to build a bulwark against dumping andsafeguarding home jobs from moving to nations where lax environmentalregulations and cheap labor are ubiquitous.
On foreign policy, Trump is not comfortable with old alliances thatAmerica invested heavily with sweat and money like NATO. He ratherquestions its benefit at the end of cold war. This makes him sound morelike a left winger than a Republican right-centric that believes inbuilding and spending money on foreign alliances like NATO.
So what is the future of conservatism? The answer lies in the future,only time will tell. But one thing for sure, this is not the best of timefor conservative principles. But it is pre-mature to declare its defeat.Not yet, as Great Chinua Achebe used to say, “It is still a morning timein creation.”
***Emeka Chiakwelu, Principal Policy Strategist at AFRIPOL. His works haveappeared in Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Forbes and many otherimportant journals around the world.
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