Why There Are So Few Moderate Republicans Left | FiveThirtyEight
Great read. GOP is becoming hardcore conservative with no room for moderate views.
As a conservative "outside" of the Republican Party, this is my response to that article's question:
1. It is a fallacy to think that Trump and his supporters are NOT Republican moderates. Rather, they should be considered Republicans who are sick and tired of their Party Elites.
2. Some Republicans who are sick and tired of their Party Elites have simply decided to abandon the Party altogether.
3. Those Elites are Party members who are running things for their own benefit and for the benefit of their donors...especially, in the case of Congressional Republicans, for their globalist donors. Some of those Elites were mentioned in the article: Amash, Hurd...and you can add Flake and others. There are still Elites remaining, though...McConnell, Burr and others.
4. The article's concept of "Trumpian" is flawed, as well. It is based on the following from the article it referred to: "The Five Wings Of The Republican Party".
We don’t have an official definition of Trumpism, but we’re describing it here in terms of four areas where Trump is somewhat distinct from previous Republican presidents:
(i) anti-institutionalism (his attacks on the Justice Department and the media, for example);
(ii) economic protectionism (his wariness about international trade agreements);
(iii) foreign policy (his hostility to NATO); and
(iv) immigration and race (the border wall, the travel ban).
(i) Trump isn't "anti-institution". He is anti-criminal institution and anti-Trump hating media...and for good reason. He has been targeted by both for five years.
(ii) Trump IS wary of international trade agreements. He wants them to benefit the US. That's a good thing.
(iii) Trump isn't hostile to NATO. He is just determined to not allow NATO to take advantage of the US...especially when it comes to money.
(iv) Immigration has nothing to do with race. Neither does the wall nor the travel ban. It is all about national and economic security.
The moderate Republicans who have stayed with the Party and who support Trump (90+%) support him for his positions, as I'VE outlined them...not the positions that FiveThirtyEight falsely assigns to him.
This article is chock full of similar falsities, mis-directions and assumptions. I find, in its entirety, the article to be downright useless.