Anyone who missed that demonstration of Republican political priorities certainly saw things clearly last year in Indiana. Again, it was a matter of religious liberty. Again, the Chamber of Commerce wing of the party would not defend legislation when it came under withering attack. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) was blindsided. He had thought, wrongly, that the new strategy was to assure conservative Christians that the party would protect religious freedom while playing down controversial moral issues. But it turns out that if establishment Republicans have to choose between the Southern Baptist Convention and the Human Rights Campaign, they opt for the latter.

Thus the support for Trump among evangelicals in South Carolina and Nevada, which, in all likelihood, will hold up elsewhere. Religious conservatives feel they have been pushed aside in today’s cultural politics, just as the working class is increasingly sidelined by economic changes. Both are seen as dead weight by an establishment dominated by the “creative class.”

Trump is a brash pugilist. He called former president George W. Bush a liar for saying there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Commentators were shocked. Bush has been a darling of the religious right. Shouldn’t this crude broadside undermine Trump’s support among evangelicals?

No. They’ve voted and voted and voted for candidates put forward by the Republican establishment. Where has it gotten them? Like so many people in Middle America, religiously and socially conservative voters are ready to smash things.