Perhaps ideological purity is less important than I thought...

Snooty pseudo-intellectuals like myself sometimes claim to be above mere politics, and more interested in philosophy and ideas. I care less for the issues of the day than I do for the great ideas that govern our personal and political lives. While this is a fairly common refrain from conservatives, it is unusual among Democrats. Because their issues of the day move from baby seals to racism to illegal immigration to global warming to men playing women’s sports to banning gas stoves to Lord knows what, suddenly and unpredictably. And, of course, it’s difficult to find a cohesive ideology that would explain all their issues, or the transitions between them. So Democrats tend to be purely political creatures. Some Republicans are, too, of course. But some of us prefer to see things through a philosophical lens.

Never-Trumpers mostly start from this more philosophical perspective, but in their case they move quickly from a pursuit of ideological purity to, well, to some rather nonsensical things:
1) They claim to be disgusted by policies they support. Because Trump is unacceptable.
2) They suggest that if you like his immigration policies, then you must also approve of his personal life.
3) They think Trump’s ideological imperfections make him unworthy of the votes of exalted philosopher-kings like themselves.
4) They ignore what might've happened if Harris had won over Trump, forgetting that we had two choices in the last election.
5) If Trump does something they don’t understand, they presume that they must know more about his reasoning than he does.
These Never-Trumpers then rationalize these and other sometimes incoherent criticisms by claiming to be incapable of abandoning their principles for mere political gains. Even if I don’t understand some of the arguments of Never-Trumpers, I am largely sympathetic to their basic point: To an ideologue like me, Trump is hard to support. I’m not sure what Trump’s ideology is. Or if he even has one.

Of course, many snooty pseudo-intellectual Republicans (like me) dream of a world in which we could simply present a coherent and inspiring explanation of the benefits of conservative thought, and Democrats would magically start losing elections. We’re more interested in winning minds than ballots, figuring that the second will always follow the first. But I’m starting to think that the primary goal of the Republican party should be to defeat Democrats, rather than promote conservatism. Blasphemy! I can’t believe I’m even allowing such a thought to cross my mind! But follow me for a moment…

First, we need to accept that we will always have a Democrat Party. It’s not going away.

Consider the Civil War. You might have thought that that event would have been the end of the Democrat party. Or, at least, that it would force the Democrats to fundamentally change their policies and goals. But no. Democrats merely went from The Slavery Party to The Jim Crow Party. They didn’t have to give up racism or oppression of minority groups as their policy goals. They just had to be a bit more subtle about it. But they kept pressing on.

And consider what Abraham Lincoln had to do during the Civil War. He ignored the very Constitution he worshipped, when he needed to. He was despised by Democrats for ending slavery, and widely criticized by Republicans for his philosophical inconsistencies under pressure. He may have been the most unpopular American president in history, even up to today’s time. But despite his occasional ideological sins, he succeeded in saving America as a country, and was later considered one of our greatest presidents. Much later. Long after he died.

Today, most Americans consider themselves fortunate that Lincoln came along when he did.

Snooty pseudo-intellectuals like myself really struggle with Donald Trump. I don’t think he’s a true conservative. In fact, I’m not sure he thinks about the world in that way at all – I don’t think he’s read Machiavelli or Burke or any of the great political thinkers. Perhaps I’m wrong, but he strikes me as a political animal – a problem fixer – concerned with the issues of the day. Concerned with WINNING, whatever the issues of the day are.

This is not a criticism. He’s obviously brilliant. And sincere, and tough. And a patriot. I don’t pretend to have any insight into his personal thoughts. But even when he has an obvious opportunity to make a simple philosophical point, he prefers to stick with his both-barrels type of rhetoric, blasting his adversaries with insults and ridicule.

Again, I find this off-putting.

But I’m starting to think that it’s just exactly what we need right now.

By thinking only of politically defeating Democrats at every opportunity, no matter how minor, conservative ideologues like me end up getting everything we want. Think of how much better the world is for conservatism, and thus for people around the world, just in the past two weeks.

So rather than hoping for political wins to follow ideological wins, we’re getting ideological wins as a result of political wins. Huge ideological wins. Which I didn’t expect. But the results are so obvious, even an intellectual can see them now. Electing a simple political genius has given us the complex ideological victories we’ve sought in vain for decades.

Which, in a representative republic, makes more sense anyway, I suppose.

I’m not comparing Trump to Lincoln. Obviously. I’m simply pointing out that sometimes it takes an unpopular leader, willing to accept the criticism for doing the best he can under difficult circumstances, to get anything significant accomplished.

The Democrat party has gained enormous political power in America. Until we fix that political problem, conservatism as a philosophy has no chance whatsoever.

And Donald Trump appears to be just the man to fix it.

It’s just hard for us snooty pseudo-intellectuals to accept.

But I’ll try.

Because for the first time in a VERY long time, things are looking much better. Perhaps I should shut up, enjoy the show, and see how this turns out. Perhaps I just didn't understand. Perhaps I was mistaken about Mr. Trump.

Which is hard for us snooty pseudo-intellectuals to accept.

But that's OK. Really, it is. Please carry on, Mr. Trump. Don't listen to me. If you can save this country I love, even through an approach I had not considered, then I'm your biggest fan. Maybe history will view you as this country's savior. Maybe, just maybe, you know more about politics than I do. Or maybe you're just the right man at the right time.

Whatever. Please carry on.