What happens to Trumpism?

Let’s stipulate that Trump will not win the election, that the polling showing him ahead, or at least tied, was a fluke, and that the distance between Clinton and Trump will widen as Americans realize what an incompetent he is, and as he beclowns himself at the remaining debates*, and that the Republican Party will neither find a way to remove him from the ballot nor convince him to leave.

(* The claim I’ve read on twitter is that he’s going to pound Clinton for her support of her husband and her active efforts to prevent the women accusing him of rape, from seeking justice.  But how on earth is he going to do this?  You know that the moderator is not going to ask a question which makes this a potential response, and the actual questions will largely be asking for support of Democratic campaign issues like free college, state-provided parental leave and daycare funding, increased Social Security, and amnesty, the last of these likely asked by an adorable little girl about her illegal immigrant parents.  It takes skill and practice to respond to these questions from a Republican perspective.)

At the same time, there are so many toss-up Senate races that Five Thirty Eight shows basically even odds for Republicans or Democrats controlling the Senate, but, so far as I know, it’s considered rather unlikely that the Republicans will loose control of the House.

So what next?

Donald Trump gained his support because he addressed immigration and trade, and promised his supporters a Wall in both cases — that is, an end to illegal immigration and (basically) tariffs to make American-made products more competitive in the market.

Does the Establishment say,

“This shows that the public cares about these issues and we’d better respond by addressing their concerns, with border enforcement and a re-think of trade agreements.”

Or

“The public cares about these issues, but they’re uneducated and don’t know that increased immigration and trade are actually good for the country, and the real issue is the need for a greater degree of Social Welfare benefits.  But, eh, we should probably allocate some extra money for drug-addicted hillbillies.”

Or

“Trump supporters were nothing more than working-class white men.  Whites are fast becoming a minority group, and working-class white men are only a subset of whites.  Besides, the flame-out of Trump makes it clear that they are ultimately powerless, and they’re racist deplorables anyway, so this election clearly demonstrates that we can move forward with our agenda and ignore them entirely.”

Yeah, my money’s on #3, too.

Now, Clinton has said that immigration is a “day one” priority, and you know that this is the sort of “reform” measure that’s heavy on amnesty, and bumping up the numbers of immigrants, and weak on enforcement.  What will the Republicans do?  Will they reject legalizing legislation and demand enforcement-first, or at least tread cautiously, knowing that Trump’s supporters are opposed to exactly this, knowing that the polls purporting to show wide public support for “reform” ask very leading questions?

Eh, not so much.

As evidence, the “survey” I received from the RNC in the mail the other day, telling me that my responses were crucial for them to develop their strategy.  And, oh, by the way, I should send in $25 or $50 or $500, but at least $15, as the “cost for processing the survey.”

Now, perhaps you’ve received such a “survey” yourself and if so, you’ll know that this is one long series of leading questions.  For example:

Do you think that the Republican Party’s core conservative principles of low taxes, less government, individual responsibility, free enterprise and a strong military must remain the bedrock of our agenda as we take our message into the November agenda?

and

President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in Congress have made a major increase in the federal minimum wage a top priority.  Do you think forcing companies and small business owners to pay a higher wage at this time will help or hurt the economy?

and

Democrats continue to promise voters that the best cure for many of America’s problems it to spend countless billions of new dollars in failed liberal entitlement programs.  Do you believe Republicans must do all in their power to block any and all such efforts?

This is awesome.  It makes for fascinating reading, and I’m sure the Democrats do something similar, asking questions like, “Should Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party do everything they can to stop the Republican tax give-aways to the wealthy?” or “Donald Trump and the Republicans want to cut Social Security benefits.  Should Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party enhance benefits by asking the billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes?”, questions that are meant not as earnest information gathering but as to inspire donations from their base.

But here’s the leading question on immigration:

Would you support immigration reform that included securing our nation’s borders and a path to citizenship for some people living in the U.S. illegally if they would be required to learn English, go to the back of the citizenship line, have a job, pay taxes and pass a criminal background check?

So that’s it right there.  The same Gang of 8 bill that aroused public ire and, ultimately produced Donald Trump, is still on the Republican Party agenda.  Will they even do anything more than dust off the legislation and re-introduce it?

image:  MAGA hat; https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/27149010964; Gage Skidmore via flickr, Creative Commons license.