I have to be candid: I really don’t like it. As I’ve told Dennis, I think it’s a big mistake to go after Big Business. At best it is a gigantic risk.
I get that it is a play to try to slice off a chunk of the young Bernie supporters. I suppose it also could help prepare the ground for revulsion towards Big Tech (which, however, is a tough sell for young people who like their social media.) And sure, we all feel a little stung by incidents of “woke capitalism.”
Further, I think there is a nod here to the so-called New Right (that hip, new, conservative movement trying to leverage Trump’s success at attracting white evangelicals and rural voters.) But we’re playing with fire here. The New Right is attacking the longstanding, Reaganite “fusion” of libertarianism, religious conservatism, and the neocons. Bully for them, but a disaster for all of us if they succeed.
In less jargony terms, and regardless what you think about the “fusion” or the “dead consensus”… the Republican Party’s fortunes depend totally upon the alliance between populists and wealthy donors. Duh! Break or weaken that alliance, and Republicans will never again win national elections.
If you vilify Big Business, we’ll lose donors, and (I’d argue) you’ll inadvertently feed the Bernie machine. Which—I’ve got news for you—will never ever go Republican instead of Democrat.
I’m similarly worried about Marco Rubio’s new “pro worker” bill. Scraping votes by pretending to be on the workers’ side might seem clever, but where do you think it will lead? Are you next going to promote labor unions? National minimum wages? Higher capital gains taxes?
If we want to defend freedom and entrepreneurship, let’s figure out a better, non-stupid way to do it.
(Harold Scrutape is a fictional character.)
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