There's also the added wrinkle that some conservatives (pre-Trump, mostly) were trying to conserve American founding philosophy, which is itself not conservative at all. Trying to conserve what is a radical position in any other context ("we need to go back to the good old days of Thomas Paine! No kings, no rulers!") added to the internal confusion of conservatives, imo.
Trump is indeed a radical. And I'm fascinated by the far more stolid conservatives who embrace him. I know conservatives who'd never never him in their house but still vote for him.
Three Kinds of Conservatives
There's also the added wrinkle that some conservatives (pre-Trump, mostly) were trying to conserve American founding philosophy, which is itself not conservative at all. Trying to conserve what is a radical position in any other context ("we need to go back to the good old days of Thomas Paine! No kings, no rulers!") added to the internal confusion of conservatives, imo.
Trump is indeed a radical. And I'm fascinated by the far more stolid conservatives who embrace him. I know conservatives who'd never never him in their house but still vote for him.