Pro-life/anti-war voters

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

That's me, and Republican.

That's me as well:

2004 - Kerry
2008 - McCain
2012 - Obama
2016 - Trump

Me as well. I vote Democratic unless the Republican candidate is a member of my extended family (which actually has happened a couple of times for local/state offices).

Fuzzy Bear and I actually have quite a bit of overlap On The Issues, we just have very different issue emphases and political styles. In my experience, other people of whom that's true run the gamut in terms of voting habits.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Trump, for better or worse, has been our most anti-abortion President.  It's not even close.

Could you walk me through why you believe that to be the case? Sincere question. Dubya passed a new abortion restriction (the partial-birth abortion ban) into federal law and got it upheld by the SCOTUS. Trump hasn't managed to do either of those things. Moreover I find it difficult to believe, given the demographics of abortion politics in the US, that the least religious Republican President (possibly the least religious President period) since at least Eisenhower would be the most opposed to abortion on the level of personal sentiment either. So I'm just not sure what basis there is to consider him "our most anti-abortion President" other than campaign/rally rhetoric and willingness to be seen keeping the counsel of "movement pro-life" figures. What, in your opinion, am I missing?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

How ironic is it that Trumpists are now effectively Rockefeller “Me Too Republicans” on economic issues sometimes?  Lol.

It's really not that ironic. One of the participants in this very conversation established a while ago that the group of voters Trump resonated most with in 2016 are low-SES social/cultural conservatives with mixed-to-progressive views on the economy.

Of course, Trump himself is (in my opinion) shamelessly taking these people for a ride and putting the donor caste first just like every other Republican President (and most Democratic Presidents) in modern times, but it's really not surprising that a conversation between Trumpy or Trump-curious Republicans today would include a bit more love for union workers than a conversation between Republican partisans ten or twenty years ago.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

How ironic is it that Trumpists are now effectively Rockefeller “Me Too Republicans” on economic issues sometimes?  Lol.

It's really not that ironic. One of the participants in this very conversation established a while ago that the group of voters Trump resonated most with in 2016 are low-SES social/cultural conservatives with mixed-to-progressive views on the economy.

Of course, Trump himself is (in my opinion) shamelessly taking these people for a ride and putting the donor caste first just like every other Republican President (and most Democratic Presidents) in modern times, but it's really not surprising that a conversation between Trumpy or Trump-curious Republicans today would include a bit more love for union workers than a conversation between Republican partisans ten or twenty years ago.

Well, as DC Al Fine sort of touched upon in that thread*, Trump's candidacy and presidency could be described as a continuous, shameless exploiting of "communitarians" for pure personal gain (and for the gain of the donor class, which by the way is the class to which Trump belongs to in my opinion).

*which I will acknowledge here as (in my still pretty short experience) possibly the most interesting thread I have seen on Atlas.

It would be shocking if Trump said some of what was being said above (and meant it). What's not shocking is Trumpists saying it.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

How ironic is it that Trumpists are now effectively Rockefeller “Me Too Republicans” on economic issues sometimes?  Lol.

It's really not that ironic. One of the participants in this very conversation established a while ago that the group of voters Trump resonated most with in 2016 are low-SES social/cultural conservatives with mixed-to-progressive views on the economy.

Of course, Trump himself is (in my opinion) shamelessly taking these people for a ride and putting the donor caste first just like every other Republican President (and most Democratic Presidents) in modern times, but it's really not surprising that a conversation between Trumpy or Trump-curious Republicans today would include a bit more love for union workers than a conversation between Republican partisans ten or twenty years ago.

Well, as DC Al Fine sort of touched upon in that thread*, Trump's candidacy and presidency could be described as a continuous, shameless exploiting of "communitarians" for pure personal gain (and for the gain of the donor class, which by the way is the class to which Trump belongs to in my opinion).

*which I will acknowledge here as (in my still pretty short experience) possibly the most interesting thread I have seen on Atlas.

It would be shocking if Trump said some of what was being said above (and meant it). What's not shocking is Trumpists saying it.

Of course.

To go further, since that is the original topic of this thread, I am pretty sure that Trump himself is neither pro-life nor anti-war at heart (at least in so far as he is anything at heart) - even though many of his supporters are.

I actually think Trump is somewhat likelier to be sincerely anti-war than sincerely pro-life. He clearly has very little in the way of a "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" instinct, and he seems to genuinely not understand the (perceived) point of most American military entanglements.