This new movement excludes, de facto, some in the old GOP coalition. The big loser seems to be libertarians. The conference voted, clearly, to adopt an ‘industrial policy,’ in a tacit salute of the administration’s tariff policy. As libertarian Sen. Rand Paul signaled his intention to introduce an increase in legal immigration, NatCon’s panel was broadly dismissive of immigration hikes.

This is not your father’s Republican party, because it’s Warren G. Harding’s Republican party. Take a look at the GOP’s platform circa 1919 – the welcome unwinding of the Reagan Revolution is, in fact, a return to normalcy. Trade protection, immigration restriction, foreign policy restraint – as well as a power base in the country’s Midwest – are, once again, the order of the day. Classical liberalism contains within itself the seeds of progressivism, argued Daniel McCarthy, conference panelist and Spectator USA columnist.

Thiel and Carlson both identified Elizabeth Warren as the greatest threat to the Right’s emerging consensus. Carlson, who is totally, absolutely, certainly not running for president, gave a roving speech of mostly his standby bromides. It killed. Intriguingly, he recommended Sen. Warren’s book, The Two-Income Trap.