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This week, another fair and balanced podcast we bring you quixotic Presidential candidate Evan McMullin. His campaign is a long shot, but his qualifications and demeanor are beyond reproach. Later, the WSJ’s Bill McGurn joins the show. Among the members of the WSJ Opinion Page, Bill is the only pro-Trump columnist and he makes the case for his candidate in his typical straight down the middle of road style. Also, Ann Coulter finds herself in a tough spot, the University of Chicago mans up, and a Ricochet member contributes the new member pitch. We podcast, you decide.
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Music from this week’s podcast:
The Impossible Dream by Richard Kiley, Original Broadway recording, Man of La Mancha
The brand new opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.
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This week, another fair and balanced podcast we bring you quixotic Presidential candidate Evan McMullin.
I fart in your general direction …..
I’ll be writing him in on election day.
Every week we hear the same old binary this and that on the podcast. But here’s what I want to hear… What’s the effect on the Republican Party?
Despite all of the conservative dissatisfaction, conservatives had moved into control of the party over about 2 decades. Conservative voters were frustrated that they didn’t do more but the elected conservatives were constrained by the fact that Republican voters weren’t as conservative as they were. OK… as far as I’m concerned, understandable from all sides. That’s politics. But conservatives were doing pretty darn good.
Now Trump comes along and wins by appealing to those who were doing the constraining. Those who weren’t as conservative as the elected officials jumped in to beat them back.
Obama says “We won.” Meaning he can do what he wants. Trump say it’s time for us to win and do what we want.
And that’s fine. Totally legit position. But it isn’t a conservative position. It isn’t a call to limit government. It’s an Us or Them call.
So if this is what we offer – Us or Them – and that is what they offer –Them or Us – what is conservatism’s future?
I get that we can move Trump or get Ryan’s plan or this and that. And all of that is better than Hillary. But if we get that, then we’ve essentially given up on the idea that it shouldn’t be.
An interesting podcast. For those wishing to hear more from Evan McMullin listen to his interview on The Federalist Hour.
One point about Bill McGurn’s argument about Trump. He says we can not criticize Trump because that will cause us to lose the House, and points to the Democrats not criticizing Clinton as proof of how it is done. I would argue the Clinton’s is what you get when you put politics above truth. No amount of unscrupulous behavior will ever be enough to merit risking political power. If Trump himself does not turn into a grafting machine like the Clintons then his successor very well might. The political apparatus to give them cover having already been established and the precedent of moral cowardice well enshrined.
I love it when something happens that gets an “UNBELIEVABLE” from Peter.
One is resolute and ready for the battle. One is full of anticipation. The third is trying to decide when would be a good time to run away.
The U.S. seems to have been able to stumble forward with one adult party and the other off in La La land. I don’t believe we can survive very long if both parties end up being run by Clinton and Trump clones. I’m #MaybeTrump, leaning #NeverTrump. Trump might be the least bad short-term answer. As some of his reluctant supporters have pointed out, there may be enough adults around Trump to keep him out of trouble. Long term, I think a Trump presidency would be terrible because it would make it unlikely that the GOP will survive as an adult party. On the other hand, will the U.S. even be recognizable (or recoverable) after four or eight years of Hillary? Rob Long is right, Hillary is really bad.
To answer Peter’s question to NeverTrumpers – voting for President is a different quantum than voting for any other office, where disappointment and compromise are far more acceptable. Any one willing to vote for Trump, in my opinion, is the equivalent of someone willing to strap their infant’s car seat in a vehicle about to be driven over treacherous mountain roads in a blizzard with a seriously inebriated drunk getting behind the wheel. I know how corrupt and wrong for America Hillary is, no amount of hectoring will make me see it more clearly, but she’s not drunk. She will try to change America and we can parry her blows. Trump is a complete nut job who cannot be contained.
The best option right now is to make sure both major party candidates get as far below 50% of the popular vote as possible so the Republican stall on Supreme Court/judiciary appointments can be supported, so regulations and executive decisions are known to be temporary and so that we can live to fight another day.
I dunno. Maybe, at his age, he’s never been out in this kind of weather in anything heavier than a merino sweater. This armor is heavy and H.O.T. Perhaps he’s just about to pass out.
It seems James was trying to get McGurn to consider that, irrelevant of what is said about Trump, it’s getting the #NeverTrump people out to vote down-ticket that is urgent.
That’s my emphasis. I wish there was a huge, nationwide Don’t! Stay! Home! effort to preserve the Senate and House. It seems Hillary could win big but still have Congress remain in Republican hands as a check on Her Majesty.
Perhaps an all-media campaign that even included billboards (with better graphics and copy) to grab the attention of the disgruntled. (If I wasn’t so old and broke, I’d do it myself.)
re: Goldman Sachs
Investment banks became a net menace when they were allowed to go public. It’s terrible.
Casey, I don’t get this very last paragraph.
McMullin’s strategy seems completely logical to me.
I ran out of words so tried to cram it in.
In this one election we have a binary choice. In the one term to follow the chosen will do stuff. One is more likely to do stuff we like than the other.
But choosing that choice also means choosing that we get what we want when we win. That’s different than what we have always said we wanted. Namely, we’re a nation of laws and not of men. So it fundamentally changes what Republicans are offering. It changes the tug of war.
I’m writing this as i walk to the market for milk and butter so if not clear i can try again later.
Mr McGurn said one thing that puzzled me. He said that Hillary would move very quickly her first two years in office and “would not make the same mistake Obama did”. What mistake is he referring to?
This podcast was a complete waste of time and an insult to those of us who support Trump. I hope the people of Utah and Arizona aren’t stupid enough to vote for this turncoat.
I think that he believes Obama could have
done far more damagemade far more progress while the Democrats held both the House and the Senate during his first two years in office.Didn’t you like the interview with Bill McGurn? I thought he made a good case for voting Trump.
I quit listening during the time wasting, irrelevant interview with the turncoat. I apologize for not listening to the entire podcast.
I guess that’s what puzzles me. I thought he “accomplished” a lot his first 2 years with the stimulus and Obamacare.
I just fast forwarded through the horrible part and listened to McGurn. He made an excellent case for Trump, and it would have been great to have him on for the entire podcast. Every single Never should listen to the McGurn part. The trouble is I’m not so sure many of the Nevers on here are Republicans. Party people know it’s critical for us to win this election.
I’d say they’re probably conservatives first, and Republicans second.
At what point did neocons become serious Republicans? In many of the discussions I’ve participated in I’ve noticed former liberals who now consider themselves conservatives and many seem to be Nevers. Am I just plain wrong or seeing something that isn’t there?
Yes.
Well, that surely clears that up. :-)
I wonder … if Jeb! or Marco or John or Mitt had won the primary … would there be podcasts here of the quixotic campaign of a crazed long-shot independent, because he has a nice demeanor?
No, there wouldn’t be. Such podcasts, and such campaigns, wouldn’t seem necessary if we had a nominee who didn’t arouse such a lack of confidence in such a large segment of the conservative electorate.
True, although you can follow a strategy, it’s the execution that’s in question.
Let me get this straight. Mr. McGurn is voting for Mr. Trump. Mr. McGurn wrote a piece in a major newspaper advocating that people vote for Mr. Trump’s. Mr. McGurn is making other media appearances (such as this podcast) following up on his newspaper piece and further urging the election of Mr. Trump.
Even with all of this, Mr. McGurn insists that he is not a Trump supporter. Despite making himself a public and vocal advocate for Mr. Trump’s election, he cannot bring himself to admit he is a Trump supporter as I held my nose in 2008 and became a McCain supporter. That says to me he knows in his heart that voting for Trump is wrong. This is what is persuasive, not the rationalizations he makes. Thank you, Mr. McGurn, for reconfirming my committment to Never Trump.