For years I’ve been preaching that Republicans should “modernize, not moderate.” But with Donald Trump’s victory, both suggestions were soundly rejected. Rather than “modernize,” Trump’s protectionist trade policies are a throwback to a pre-Reagan “Old Right” form of Republicanism, while other policies — from infrastructure spending to mostly ignoring social issues — are more moderate than we are used to.
Trump might well go down in history as a disaster of a president, but he has surprised us before. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility that, by employing entirely counterintuitive strategies, he could actually achieve some of the thoughtful conservative policy objectives that have eluded more intellectual conservative reformers for generations.
Let’s take, for example, his recent appointment of school choice reformer Betsy DeVos as education secretary. Other Republican presidential candidates have been more focused on education reform (“No Child Left Behind” comes to mind), but you’d be hard pressed to find a president who has nominated someone more likely to actually try to upset the apple cart. “I don’t think we’ve had a secretary of education with a more ‘boots on the ground’ approach to school choice — to opportunities for all children,” said Maury Litwack, director of state political affairs for the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, which represents tens of thousands of students who attend Jewish day schools.
Why does his choice for education secretary matter? If you’re a conservative policy wonk or intellectual, what issue is more important, defensible, or unifying than using conservative ideas to give poor kids a chance to improve their lot in life? This is an issue that might have been championed by a President Jeb Bush or a President Bobby Jindal. The irony is that it could be (could be!) Donald Trump who ends up reaching the political promised land.
Aside from potentially being good policy, this is also good politics. Giving poor kids a chance to get out of failing schools and to pursue educational opportunities is also a possible inroad for outreach to minority communities. (It is ironic that both of these goals were priorities of conservative reformers who generally opposed Trump, and they did not appear to be top priorities for candidate Trump).
Trump might well go down in history as a disaster of a president, but he has surprised us before. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility that, by employing entirely counterintuitive strategies, he could actually achieve some of the thoughtful conservative policy objectives that have eluded more intellectual conservative reformers for generations.
Let’s take, for example, his recent appointment of school choice reformer Betsy DeVos as education secretary. Other Republican presidential candidates have been more focused on education reform (“No Child Left Behind” comes to mind), but you’d be hard pressed to find a president who has nominated someone more likely to actually try to upset the apple cart. “I don’t think we’ve had a secretary of education with a more ‘boots on the ground’ approach to school choice — to opportunities for all children,” said Maury Litwack, director of state political affairs for the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, which represents tens of thousands of students who attend Jewish day schools.
Why does his choice for education secretary matter? If you’re a conservative policy wonk or intellectual, what issue is more important, defensible, or unifying than using conservative ideas to give poor kids a chance to improve their lot in life? This is an issue that might have been championed by a President Jeb Bush or a President Bobby Jindal. The irony is that it could be (could be!) Donald Trump who ends up reaching the political promised land.
Aside from potentially being good policy, this is also good politics. Giving poor kids a chance to get out of failing schools and to pursue educational opportunities is also a possible inroad for outreach to minority communities. (It is ironic that both of these goals were priorities of conservative reformers who generally opposed Trump, and they did not appear to be top priorities for candidate Trump).
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