Book Review: The Rise of Common-Sense Conservatism: The American Right and the Reinvention of the Scottish Enlightenment by Antti Lepisto
Why were historians of conservatism shocked by Donald Trump’s rise? Antti Lepistö, an intellectual historian at the University of Oulu, Finland, seeks to answer this question in his first monograph, The Rise of Common-Sense Conservatism: The American Right and the Reinvention of the Scottish Enlightenment. The work is split into six chapters each focusing on a different element of neoconservative thought. The first- and second-chapters study journalist Irving Kristol’s use of ‘common man’ rhetoric in the late-1970s and early-1980s, and how social scientist James Q. Wilson built upon this.
“I’d Rather Vote for a Tuna Fish Sandwich”: Never Trumpers and the 2020 Presidential Election
“The man is categorically unfit to be president,” declares Bardon from Kentucky. Todd from Oregon agrees, arguing that “Trump’s daily tweet storms and fragile ego show he is dangerously incompetent.” Meanwhile, Dianne in Utah is concerned that “Trump cares about his image more than he cares about saving lives.” You would be forgiven for thinking that these comments came from disgruntled Democrats fed up with the Presidency of Donald J. Trump, but they are actually quotes featured on the website Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) a major group in the growing Never Trump movement.[1] The Never Trump movement began during 2016 when a number of prominent Republicans declined to support Trump as the Republican Party Presidential Nominee, voting instead for Hillary Clinton. The movement gained prominence when the hashtag #NeverTrump began trending on Twitter in the autumn of 2016, but did not change the outcome of the election. Having failed […]