Jack Kemp

https://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2017/09/08/desperate-for-a-win-trump-shafts-his-party-n2378480?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=
Desperate for a Win, Trump Shafts His Party

Jonah Goldberg
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Posted: Sep 08, 2017 12:00 AM

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The news that President Trump abandoned Republicans to strike a deal with Congressional Democrats on a three-month extension of the debt limit yielded a predictable response from his predictable cheerleaders: It was brilliant and typically shrewd for the author of "The Art of the Deal" to take the very first offer the Democrats made and ask for nothing in return.
Less obsequious observers on the right claimed that this was the long-prophesied moment. The seventh seal had been broken. Donald Trump was "pivoting" at last. "The pivot is real and it's spectacular!" proclaimed Ben Domenech, the publisher of The Federalist.

In the lexicon of Trumpism and anti-Trumpism, "pivot" has many meanings. But in this context, pivot means to reach across party lines and work with Democrats, giving the shaft to his own party, or at least to the conservatives in the GOP.
Such a move has been feared by many conservatives from the earliest days of Trump's candidacy. The former New York Democrat holds no deep love for ideological conservatism, and many of his favorite issues -- protectionism, infrastructure, etc. -- are more naturally part of the Democratic portfolio.

But those fears didn't pan out at first. The president and congressional Republicans tried mimic the Democrats in the wake of Barack Obama's victory in 2008 and run the table, particularly on Obamacare "repeal and replace," on a partisan basis. Unfortunately, the GOP couldn't get it done. This infuriated many conservatives, Republicans and Donald Trump himself, and to some extent rightly so.

End excerpt.

This from Jack:

The comments to this piece are mostly negative. The readers call Jonah Goldberg a RINO Never Trumper. He may be just that and part of Trump's Republican opposition himself. But the trouble is the bottom line criticism Goldberg makes is valid, namely that Trump hasn't planned for or figured out a way to beat his opposition on the GOP side while handling the Democrats. And it's not like Trump has to do all the figuring himself - he has help like Gorka and Bannon (even though they are not now working in the White House). Basically, what Goldberg is saying is that Trump has not come up with a way to either destroy his oppositon or waylay their fears with some masterful move. It's a fact that we still have Obamacare and the Middle Class is hurting from that. If you want to say that Goldberg is complaining that Trump hasn't found away to defeat GOLDBERG's efferts to twart him, I agree - but it appears that Goldberg kind of agrees with that conclusion himself in that Goldberg wants Trump to prove him wrong in his fears and conclusions. The period between now and New Years Day 2018 - and possibly into Election Day 2018 - is crucial.

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