Why does Hawley scare so many?

[Tiger08]

Most on the left would take a fiscal conservative/social liberal over the opposite any day of the week if pressed. Reason why they'll tolerate your typical CEO yet are very scared of Hawley

[Calthrina950]

People've come to equate his positions with Trump's, whom they detest, but recognize that unlike Trump, he has a perfectly pleasant personality and would be a more successful campaigner. He poses a clear electoral threat in that he combines all of Trump's strengths (nationalism; rhetorical, if not concrete, appeal to working class, grounded in an appeal to history) with absolutely none of his weaknesses.

The only question for most will be whether their opposition to Trump was policy-centric (in the case of Lincoln Project neocons or open-borders libertarians) or personality-focused. There's a third category who might endorse Hawley as a "better Republican" but do not trust him to actually make that pivot; I respect this criticism.

I agree with this. Personally, Hawley doesn't scare me at all, and he is certainly far less odious than the detestable Tom Cotton, who I believe needs to be kept from ever entering the White House with the greatest effort possible. Hawley, on the other hand, could possibly be part of a wave of politicians who revives the Republican Party in the near-future.

[AltWorlder]

Cotton has scary views and rhetoric but I guess I just don't see him as a presidential shoo-in because he's just so un-photogenic, much like Scott Walker, another ideologue "rising star" who went nowhere

Most on the left would take a fiscal conservative/social liberal over the opposite any day of the week if pressed. Reason why they'll tolerate your typical CEO yet are very scared of Hawley

Yeah, and it's real dumb because most of the company is the opposite. That said, I think most of the country's social conservatism is less anti-immigrant rabble rousing like that which Hawley and Cotton peddle in and more of a Babbit-like dislike for tumultuous change and excessive "PC culture", and maybe anti-abortion sympathies.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Most on the left would take a fiscal conservative/social liberal over the opposite any day of the week if pressed. Reason why they'll tolerate your typical CEO yet are very scared of Hawley

Imagine thinking Hawley is actually economically liberal.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Most on the left would take a fiscal conservative/social liberal over the opposite any day of the week if pressed. Reason why they'll tolerate your typical CEO yet are very scared of Hawley

Imagine thinking Hawley is actually economically liberal.

Yep. Hawley is both economically right wing (opposes government services and a welfare state) and economically illiberal (wants the government to push its wealth-destroying agenda on the market). Really a dreadful combination.

[Dr. MB]

Most on the left would take a fiscal conservative/social liberal over the opposite any day of the week if pressed. Reason why they'll tolerate your typical CEO yet are very scared of Hawley

Imagine thinking Hawley is actually economically liberal.

Yep. Hawley is both economically right wing (opposes government services and a welfare state) and economically illiberal (wants the government to push its wealth-destroying agenda on the market). Really a dreadful combination.

What exactly do you mean by this?

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Most on the left would take a fiscal conservative/social liberal over the opposite any day of the week if pressed. Reason why they'll tolerate your typical CEO yet are very scared of Hawley

Imagine thinking Hawley is actually economically liberal.

Yep. Hawley is both economically right wing (opposes government services and a welfare state) and economically illiberal (wants the government to push its wealth-destroying agenda on the market). Really a dreadful combination.

What exactly do you mean by this?

He's very comfortable overriding the decisions of individuals and businesses with unjustifiable mandates to push whatever agenda he wants the government to pursue (usually something involving ruining America's tech industry or screwing coastal and international firms to prop up other parts of the country.) Basically, he's the senator most comfortable with a command economy (vs a market economy) while still being as right wing as possible on creating programs that actually help people out.

[Mopsus]

He's a handsome, masculine figure. Some people find that intimidating, yet mysteriously sexy, and it scares them. I understand that. I really do.

[Person Man]

There's a third category who might endorse Hawley as a "better Republican" but do not trust him to actually make that pivot; I respect this criticism.

This is definitely my problem with the putative economic wetness of Hawley, the post-2016 incarnation of Rubio, and so forth. Hawley doesn't scare or disgust me in the way that, say, Cotton does, but I just don't think he's for real.

Hawley could be mitigated or aggravated because of the same reason. With Cotton, you are basically getting what you would get from both Trump and W combined. Where Trump is moderate on outsourcing/trade and war, he is very conservative on race issues. Where W is moderate on race issues, he is very conservative on trade and war. Cotton is very conservative on all of those things.

[AltWorlder]

He's a handsome, masculine figure. Some people find that intimidating, yet mysteriously sexy, and it scares them. I understand that. I really do.

He's better looking than Cotton but he's also more of an Ivy League priss, which might be masculine by Republican conservatives standards but eh it's been a long time since the Buckley days