The Bizarre Trump Consensus

The rate at which anti-and pro-Trump Republicans have traded arguments over the course of this campaign is head-spinning. The pro-Trump right has found a bizarre set of allies on the left. Cautious liberals might like their chances in November, but many are warning their allies not to sleep on Donald Trump. In fact, conservatives who are skeptical of the reality television star’s prospects in the general election are unconvinced of his electability for the same reason that some Democrats are entirely certain Trump is easily beatable: the GOP candidate’s liberal inclinations.

Trump’s ability to appeal to white working-class voters who once made up the backbone of the Democratic coalition that has led some center-left observers to caution humility ahead of November.

Between Democrats and pro-Trump Republicans, there are a number of non-superficial agreements. Their most enduring schism appears to be their mutual desire to defeat one another at the polls. One curious source of agreement between these two warring factions is that Trump bucks conservative orthodoxy just enough to make it a competitive race in November. With that concession, the left has already won a fight more far-reaching than any one election cycle. 

- Noah Rothman