I’ve argued before that the only way the Republican Party can again become a vehicle for conservative ideas is if Trump is trounced. Populists and philosophical conservatives may sometimes travel a common road, but they are heading now in different directions.

Morally, the central conservative idea is the restraint of personal and public gratification for the sake of virtue. The populist idea is disdain for restraint, even at the expense of virtue. Politically, the conservative idea is about the preservation of a constitutional order that is itself liberal. The populist idea opposes liberalism in the name of majoritarianism (even when it doesn’t command a majority). Economically, the conservative idea is that free markets foster personal enterprise, frugality, creativity, industry and other components of moral character. The populist idea is that free markets make you filthy rich.

And so on. To be a Biden conservative means wanting to Make Republicans Conservative Again — at least by something other than today’s degraded standards.