The moment that the Pubs become protectionist, is the moment that Torie ceases to be a Pub. If the Pubs abandon basic free market principles, they cease to have any raison d'etre whatsoever, other than perhaps to flail away in a psephological death spiral to effect the Rick Santorum agenda as it were.
I don't see it happening at all, quite frankly, though politically speaking it would be a smart move for the Republicans to return to their roots. There's no way the Democrats could beat them on that issue, none whatsoever, especially if the Republicans followed through with it. A nationalist, protectionist GOP would essentially be unbeatable, if you ask me. They would capture working class white voters who are currently disengaged from politics, pick up a big chunk of the labor vote, and probably win over the Latino vote, especially if they emphasize social conservatism and all that jazz.
Indeed, three years after you posted that message, a certain celebrity disrupted GOP politics and brought an ounce of protectionism into the party. This allowed the party to make inroads among white working-class voters.
The thing is Democrats are also much more protectionist than they were back then too. Biden has basically:
- Defied WTO rulings on multiple occasions and is blocking the appointments of new judges from getting on the court thus making the WTO completely useless
- Has expanded the trade war on China by not just keeping the tarrifs but outright declaring a war on much of China's tech ndustry
- Has pushed for industrial policy with legislation such as the BIF , IRA, and CHIPs act which all give subsidies to American businesses and specifically those who will boost domestic industry while penalizing foreign industry. This btw just doesnt apply to China because Biden for example made it so that electric cars have to be made in America(at least the final assembly) for it to be eligible for the tax credit.
The old "Washington Consensus" era on free trade and globalization is over and that is because of 2 main reasons:
1. Its easy to be for free trade and globalization when you are the undisputed number one power but its much harder to be for it when those same global institutions hamper that goal. So national security conservatives have become far more protectionist for that
2. Economics assume all sides are rational and dont take into account national security goals but the fact is American Presidents obviously must take into account national security goals.
