Why I Can’t be a Democrat, am a Bad Republican, Won’t be an Independent, and Will Not Support Trump: A Checklist of Policy Points

George Washington and me. Needed a use for this picture somewhere.

I’ve been asked, time and time again, why I remain a Republican in the post-Nixon era, and especially into the Age of Trump. I’ve written on it again and again, but the questions keep coming. A friend recently told me I seemed to her “a moderate Democrat in policy, and a moderate Republican in principle.” This sounds about right, especially given that I sympathize with the characterization of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan- “he talked conservative and voted liberal.” Tory Men and Whig Measures, the whole way. That’s me to the core. A Hamiltonian Republican.

In any case, every thinker should do a philosophical check-in on themselves every couple of years, and for me that means enumerating the policy reasons I don’t fit well into most political categories around today. So here goes:

 

Reasons I Cannot be a Democrat-

-Decentralization and Federalism

-Pro-Energy (Nuclear, Fossil Fuels)

-Higher Defense Spending

-Kissingerian Foreign Policy

-Pro-Bureaucracy Reform

-Pro-Regulatory Reform

-Pro-Constitution (Electoral College, etc.)

-Sympathetic to Religious Concerns

-Unvarnished, Non-Qualified Patriotism

-Culturally Conservative

 

Reasons I am a Bad Republican-

-Tax the Rich and the Plutocrats

-Massive Public Investments

-State Capitalism and Cartelism

-Financial and Industrial Regulation

-Pro-Entitlements

-Pro-Worker Protection and Unionization

-Anti-Free Trade

-Anti-Open Borders Immigration

-Kissingerian Foreign Policy

-Pro-Strong Presidency

-Sympathetic to Secular Concerns

-Social Moderation and Openness

-Multiracial Coalition, Opposed to White Identity Politics

 

Reasons I am Not an Independent

-No emphasis on electoral reform or campaign finance reform

-Acceptance of Two-Party System

 

Reasons I will not support Trump, despite policy agreements

-Divisive White Nationalism

-Executive Incompetence, Inexperience

-Authoritarianism in Politics