“Right-wing” governments often fail because they have a range of opinions that make a consensus difficult.
One of the major differences in Western democracies is the consistency of the ostensible right and left. The left is generally on message on every issue of the day. Show me a Democrat who is supported by the Democratic National Committee who supports abortion up to some arbitrary term limit. Likewise, show me a Democrat who is in favor of a border that does not allow for a few thousand people to enter illegally every day. Show me a Democrat who is not on board with the trans mania or DEI orthodoxy. And finally, show me a Democrat who opposes stricter gun rules. Democrats are driven by ideology, Soros-funded NGOs, and a lockstep media. Woe to the Democrat who opposes abortion and is a firm believer in the Second Amendment. There were such creatures in the days of Bill Clinton. But today, as Kamala Harris would say, you must be at the wrong rally.
Republicans, while being the party of the people, truth, prosperity, strength, and freedom, are not nearly as united in opinion as their colleagues across the aisle. Take a muscular MAGA Matt Gaetz and put him in an elevator with Senator Susan Collins from Maine, and you would be hard-put to believe that the two come from the same party. And while a range of political and ideological opinions is generally healthy, it can also lead to stalemate and ultimate failure. When Donald Trump entered the White House in 2017, he had very few people in Congress who could be described as MAGA Republicans. It was still the age of McCain, Romney, and Paul Ryan. Today, the president has many more in both houses who think and talk about the ideas driving Donald Trump’s recent victory: closing the border, deporting illegal aliens, creating more energy at home, encouraging companies to produce in the US, making life affordable, etc. But the party is far less monolithic than its counterpart. Gaetz claims that there were four Republican senators—out of 53—who would not vote for his elevation to attorney general. By the Democrats, senators who could not toe the line, like Sinema and Manchin, had to leave the party and declare themselves independent. Not so with the GOP.
Looking at other Conservative® governments worldwide, you see ostensibly right-wing governments that cannot move forward due to a wide range of conflicting opinions. Giorgia Meloni gave an eloquent speech about family, good values, and not having the state interfere with people’s lives before her election. She was elected, and the boats of aliens kept coming. To the best of my knowledge, she has not deported anyone. And when the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it would honor arrest warrants for Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu and his defense minister, Italy said it would honor the warrants. This is conservatism? This is how the Tories were crushed in the last election. From David Cameron in 2010 to Rishi Sunak this year, the Tories ruled under six prime ministers. But what were their policies? Cameron begrudgingly allowed a vote on Brexit, one he hoped would go against separation. When Brexit passed, successive Tory governments stopped implementing full separation from the EU. The Tory governments support trans nonsense, ruled when Pakistani grooming gangs pimped out thousands of British girls, went after wood heaters, and fully bought into the climate charade. As Mark Steyn said, a conservative accepts liberal opinions ten years later. There was nothing “conservative” about Tory governments, with Boris Johnson being accused of pushing Ukraine to keep up the war and not sign an early peace agreement. Keir Starmer walked right in, and now people are being jailed for posting Facebook posts. That police arresting simple folks and the judges throwing the book at them grew up under the Tories.
In Israel, Bibi has, on paper, 64 seats out of 120-person Knesset. Yet, he cannot pass the promised legislation, especially desperately needed judicial reform. He is the head of a coalition, and there are religious Zionists far to the right of his Likud party. He also has the ‘Charedim” or ultraorthodox, who can bolt if they do not get draft deferments. So, Bibi often waffles or agrees to positions that seem quite the opposite of what he promised during election season. Being “right-wing” always seems to mean finding an excuse for doing what the left wants.
As Donald Trump enters office, I hope he can find enough consensus in the party to move his program forward by law and not by presidential fiat. As we saw on the first day of the Biden administration, what one president promulgates, the next one can nix. Changing new rules becomes harder than just a presidential signature if they are canonized in law. Where can there be enough agreement to get both houses to join in to move forward the president’s program?
*Closing the border
*Ejecting criminal illegal aliens to start the project
*End DEI in all federal programs
*Make it illegal for biological guys to compete in women’s and girls’ competitions
*Encourage more local energy production
*Empower the new DOGE to make the federal government more efficient
These are topics that should be acceptable even to squish Republicans. If President Trump can show progress during his first two years back in office, he can hopefully pick up more Congress members who fully buy into his program. He needs to keep all Republicans on board with relatively slim margins in both houses. He can gain early success by focusing on issues where everyone is on board.
Left-leaning governments like the outgoing one in Washington fail because they are tied to ideology and detached from reality. The American people want a closed border, they want guys out of girls’ spaces, they want food and gas that they can afford, they want manufacturing at home, and they want a solid military. Biden/Harris ideology opposed all of the above. Righty governments collapse because they promise but rarely deliver. Donald Trump is known for promises made/promises kept. Let’s hope he keeps up that success. America needs it.