I have long believed that there is a global power elite that manipulates the political process to its advantage. This strikes me as a no duh" assertion. What separates me from some of my more conspiratorial brethren is that I dont believe this power elite is omnipotent. They cannot foresee or control for every contingency. The success of Donald Trumps campaign is one such contingency they didnt foresee and the rather ham-handed way they have responded to it demonstrates that the conspiracy is not all powerful.
The Powers That Be assumed Jeb Bush would coast to the Republican nomination but they were OK with Marco Rubio or John Kasich or Scott Walker or whichever other cookie cutter Republican (with the arguable exceptions of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul) winning the nomination because none of them fundamentally challenge the current reigning globalist paradigm. That is one way the Powers That Be work. They limit the range of acceptable choices so their paradigm is safe regardless of the outcome.
Now because the donor class couldnt get their act together and figure out how to derail Trump earlier they are stuck with throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him while rallying behind the less than ideal from their standpoint Ted Cruz to stop a Trump nomination with the ultimate hope of forcing a brokered convention from which a more acceptable nominee will be chosen.
While this scenario is not totally implausible if it happens it will not go down easily and will leave the Republican Party seriously fractured. The elites dont really care about this because they are fine with a Hillary Clinton Presidency but presumably all the would-be conservatives who are helping them out with their plan by rallying around Cruz would care.
Despite not conceding that the power elite conspiracy is all powerful I have previously assumed that you dont get to be part of the elite by accident so I figured they were at least intelligent. Im beginning to wonder about that.
Why do I wonder? The name most often suggested as the fresh new candidate that could arise from a brokered convention is Paul Ryan. Are you kidding me? Paul Ryan is precisely what is wrong with the current Establishment GOP that this election is a repudiation of. He is pro-amnesty pro-mass legal immigration pro-fast track and pro-TPP. He just rolled over on the budget deal with Obama greatly angering the party base and has even drawn a credible primary challenger. In other words he is a perfect donor class stooge. You couldnt create a better caricature of one if you tried. Its like the Establishment hasnt been paying attention to what has been going on this campaign season at all if they are so clueless as to think Paul Ryan is the answer. Either that or they just intend to flex their muscle and demonstrate their power by forcing on the GOP their puppet regardless of the consequences.
Far be it from me to give the Establishment advice but the main divide remaining in the Republican electorate this season is roughly between the newly mobilized populist nationalist forces represented by Trump and more orthodox movement type conservatives who are now rallying around Cruz. If the Establishment is really interested in finding a consensus candidate it will find someone who can bridge these gaps and appeal to both sides rather than force a donor class lackey like Ryan on the Party. Trumps message on trade and immigration is a direct repudiation of the Ryan wing of the Party and Cruz however sincere has also now embraced a hard line on immigration and TPP. Ryan does not unify these factions. He carries water for the global elite.
There arent a lot of options that could satisfy both sides because most national level elected Republicans echo movement conservative orthodoxy to a greater or lesser degree but one name does come immediately to mind Sen. Jeff Sessions. Sessions has always been rock solid on immigration the best in the Senate on the issue. He hasnt always been solid on trade deals but he seems to have come around on the issue. He expressed skepticism of the Korean trade deal but voted for it. But he vocally opposed fast-track for TPP and opposes TPP. His rhetoric on trade seems to have shifted as well perhaps influenced by his advisor now on loan to Trump
Stephen Miller. In addition to being satisfactory to the Trump faction on immigration and TPP Sessions also checks all the conservative boxes and avoids some of Trumps heterodoxies in a way that would satisfy the more orthodox conservative Cruz supporters.
I am still a Trump supporter and am not advocating this option Im just suggesting that if the Powers That Be are intent on foisting a fresh face off on the Party through a brokered convention maybe they should get serious about finding someone who could actually bridge gaps and unite the party rather than an Establishment lickspittle like Paul Ryan.
Also published at the Fleming Foundation website and The Economic Populist.
