In every election the voters teach the candidates a lesson that they never seem to learn. Every victory is not a mandate IN FAVOR of the victor; it can also be a mandate AGAINST the losing party. Maybe the only mandate you really got was not to be the other party. Policy is always subject to political reality. Trump in his radical reforms is making the same mistake his opponents made.
In the ‘woke’ world of the Democrats every 35-year-old white male listening to the indoctrination of systemic racism, toxic masculinity, and the disclaimer of meeting on native American soil from the overstaffed DEI department sat quietly to avoid losing their jobs or being sent to reeducation camps. They knew the absurdity of it all and while they may have been quiet, they were able to express themselves in the voting booth.
The same applied to the parents of female children sharing a locker room and competing with biological men, and the parents of boys who now had tampon dispensers in their bathrooms. No matter how moral or rational this may have been to advocates the vast majority of the voting public of both parties rejected it strongly.
Trump is taking his party down the same path. No matter how much the voters may have supported tariffs in theory they did not likely vote for the chaotic and reckless application. No matter how much or how little they understand the economics of trade, when the consequences fall on their bank accounts and 401ks, they will reject it. While Trump’s voters wanted to cut the size of government, many will react differently when the waiting line at the IRS or Social Security becomes unbearable. And all of the government workers fired with abandon and their friends and families will react in the voting booth just as the victims of the DEI department did.
If the Democrats tac to the center, the Republicans may be toast in the midterms. But that assumes they have learned something from their defeat. Even if Trump reversed everything on tariffs tomorrow the radical uncertainty he represents will stifle new investments as long as he is in office.
Trump’s biggest accomplishment may be turning Democrats into Milton Friedman free traders.