A tiny observation, to add to the pile: After Wednesday night, Trump supporters hate Ted Cruz. They hated him before, but now they really hate him. But they also hate Paul Ryan. Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan took basically opposite approaches to the problem of Donald Trump. And they ended up in the same place, re: Trump’s most ardent fans. Is there, perhaps, a lesson in this?
I’d like to think so. And I’d like to think the lesson is this: Conservative politicians should stop trying to ingratiate themselves to Trump fans. You’re not going to win friends. You’re not going to do much in the way of influencing people. You’re going to be Chris Christie.
Consider: Do Trump fans actually like Chris Christie? That is, do they feel genuine affection for him? When the governor who once told a heckler to “sit down and shut up” traded in his dignity to become the ottoman on Trump’s private jet, did the Trump fans who had previously denounced him as an Establishment-RINO-squish suddenly adore him? I suspect not. I suspect they disdain him, his being pretty much the Platonic ideal of a “beta-male.” They just also happen to appreciate his service on behalf of their cause. Scut Farkus doesn’t actually like Grover Dill.
If Trump fans don’t really like Christie — who could not be any more of a lapdog without sprouting a tail — they most certainly don’t have affection for Paul Ryan, who is literally the representative of the Republican establishment that Trump fans want to burn down. You can extrapolate from here: The more someone has butted heads with Trump, the more you can ratchet up the heat of Trump fans’ fury.
Now, maybe it’ll prove better to be disdained than hated. Maybe it will yield strange and unpredictable fruit in the future. But I doubt it. And, even so, at what cost?
That we’re having this discussion is the result of a profound, and deplorable, change in the Republican party. Paul Manafort said on Wednesday morning that “this is the party of Trump now.” That may not be true as a matter of substance, but it’s most definitely true as a matter of style. This is a party characterized by threats and thuggery. It seeks to crush dissent. There is no room for compromise. You don’t get the benefit of the doubt. Either you prostrate yourself before the throne, or you’re a globalist cuck who supports Hillary and ISIS. The party apparatus has taken on the character (or lack thereof) of Donald Trump.
It’s become clear that there’s no playing footsie with that. Even Ryan has succumbed to condemning Trump’s principled opponents.
Maybe his speech on Wednesday night redounds to his political benefit, or maybe not. But Ted Cruz walked out of the convention hall with his dignity intact.
Yes, the Trumpkins hate him. There are worse fates.