Trumping Conservativism

• How do we feel about politics?

• How does feeling threatened affect our politics?
• How has conservativism evolved over our lifetimes?
• How has that evolution led to Trump’s candidacy?
• What’s his appeal to conservatives?
• What’s up for debate in this election?
• Given the threats we feel, what’s the best we can
hope for?
over the weekend
How we feel about Politics

Experience

Disposition Convention

Expectation
Haidt’s Five Moral Values
1. Harm/Care – agreed on by both liberal and conservative
2. Fairness/reciprocity – agreed on by both liberal and
conservative

3. Ingroup loyalty—only among humans do you find large

groups, though liberals are more independent

4. Authority/respect—liberals reject authority, while

conservatives embrace it

5. Purity/sanctity—while political right moralizes sex, left

moralizes food and other aspects of self-control
Our tribal instincts enable us to connect with
larger causes that transcend our own lives
Such connections shape our identifications with with our
national, political and religious traditions.
Ernest Becker The Denial of Death (1973): “We build
character and culture in order to shield ourselves from
the devastating awareness of underlying helplessness
and terror of our inevitable death.”
 The Conservative Tradition in America
Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind (1953)

• Truth and justice are based on natural laws.

• Differences in social standing are natural.
• A classless society is impossible, but equal
opportunities are vital.
• Individual freedom enables prosperity.
• Customs and traditions guide our thinking.
• Change, especially rapid change, creates risk.
How can threatening people be a winning strategy?
From “The Appeal of Donald Trump” by Ira Hyman
• Do you feel like we need to try something really different,
something unusual, something risky? Are you willing to take a
risk? Are you willing to gamble with your money, your health, and
the future of your country? When does the risky choice become
more attractive than the safe choice? What leads people to feel like
taking a big risk?
• Decisions about trying risky or safe alternatives are influenced by
the decision frame . . . . Framing effects occur when you can bias
judgments by how you present a problem. . . . We often frame
problems in terms of gains or losses. When a problem is framed in
terms of gains or saving things, then people are risk averse . . .
. When a problem is presented in terms of losses and threats, then
people will make risky choices and be willing to take risky gambles.
 Who is Donald Trump?
Heir to a construction fortune, business magnate, New York City
tabloid obsession, reality TV star and now, the Republican Party's
presumptive presidential nominee. For more than 40 years,
Donald Trump has sought, found and sustained a global
celebrity.

When people ask me about Donald's wealth and whether he's a

self-made man, I have to remind them that he was born into one
of the wealthiest families in America. In the 1970s his father was
worth $200 million, so Donald will say, "Oh, I got a loan of a
million bucks from my dad," and that's true too, but he also
could access all that wealth in addition to all of his political
connections, so there's some who estimate that if he had parked
that money in a mutual fund he'd be just as rich today as he is
now with all the machinations of his business life, but hey, he
kept us entertained, so let him be a developer, let him be a serial
entrepreneur. It's fun to watch.
Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump on live finale of 2008 season of The Apprentice.
 Is Donald Trump conservative?
Ben Shapiro, Breibart (1/24/16)
Ted Cruz: “Donald’s record does not match what he says as a candidate.”
Rush Limbaugh: Trump is not a “genuine conservative.”
Mark Levin: “Trump is NOT the real deal… He is not a conservative.”
Andrew Breitbart [subsequently hired as Trump’s Campaign Chief]: “Of course he’s not
a conservative. He was for Nancy Pelosi before he was against Nancy Pelosi.”
With all that said, it’s worthwhile exploring Trump’s worldview. To do that, we must
separate two elements of that worldview: his current positions, and his historic
positions. The first goes to supposed conservatism, and the second goes to credibility –
even if he says he’s conservative today, should you believe him?
• Immigration. After a career of flip-flopping on immigration (he ripped Mitt
Romney in 2012 for being too harsh on illegal immigration and in 2013 said he
hired illegals at his golf courses), Trump has famously taken the most right-wing
position on illegal immigration in this race. . . .
• Foreign Policy. Trump’s been all over the place here. He’s said we should leave the
Islamic State to Russia and expressed sympathy for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin,
but also said that we should “bomb the s***” out of ISIS. He has both said that he
would topple Bashar Assad and that he would not arm the Syrian rebels. . . .
• Abortion. Trump says he’s pro-life. [Cites previous states on his being “very pro-
choice” and“pro-life, with the caveats. You have to have the caveats.”
• Same-Sex Marriage. Trump says he’s anti-same sex marriage but that it’s the “law of
the land.” . . .
• Religious Freedom. Trump pledges to uphold religious freedom but has not commented
on the Indiana Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. . . .
• Entitlements. Unlike virtually all the other Republican candidates, Trump has said he
wouldn’t touch entitlements. . . . .
• Campaign Finance Reform. Trump is for it, and he routinely attacks super PACs. . . .
• Government Involvement In The Economy. . . . He’s admitted over and over to paying
elected officials to grease the skids on his deals. . . .
• Education. Trump opposes Common Core but has flip-flopped on whether he’d do away
with the Department of Education. . . .
• Healthcare. Trump says he’d dump Obamacare but then praises the nationalized health
care system of Canada and Great Britain.
• Tax Plan. Trump’s tax plan is certainly conservative. . . .
• Trade. Trump is for international tariffs, including an extraordinarily heavy tariff on
Chinese goods, in the mistaken belief that this . . . helps the American economy. . . .
• Guns. Trump has become progressively more pro-Second Amendment over time. . . .
• Trump is far more populist than conservative — which means he has appeal to blue-
collar Democrats, but also that he may not reliably stand by conservative principles in
office. In fact, given his repeated position switching, the safe bet is that anything he
says today will changed based on convenience. . . .
 Typical responses
“He’s not a career politician, and
he doesn’t owe politicians anything.
He’s got real-world experience that
most career politicians lack.”
“As bad as he is, I think Hillary
is worse for our country.”

Pew Charitable Trust Survey, of 4500, including 4000 registered voters 8/12-9/16, 2016