Is the Republican Party now Donald Trump’s party? Democrats and liberal pundits naturally love to say that since Trump is the party’s presidential nominee, he is the head of the party, and his ideas and characteristics are those of the party. This is a normal way of looking at things, when the presidential nominee is already within the general mainstream of the party’s factions, and there’s no way to stop people from using this syllogism as a talking point so long as Trump is clinging to the nomination. Moreover, the taint of Trump on the party’s image will likely linger long past his defeat in November.
But the bigger question is whether the GOP is actually going to be a different party in the future: will it adopt a different agenda? A different rhetorical style? A different foreign policy? A different view of candidate recruitment and qualification?
The hard part in answering that question is defining “Trumpism.” Trump, after all, is himself hard to define on a lot of issues, and his views on them are often not very thought-out. And many of the things his fans defend about Trump may not actually be characteristics they would want in a future candidate.
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