Ross Douthat identifies three different ideological strains being manifested in the Ohio primary, with candidates to match: a pro-business, internationalist establishment (Dolan); a group of Tea Party movement “True Conservatives” (Mandel); and a purely populist group supported by Trump (Vance). Is he right?
Yes. What he is describing, in my terms, are the PBP, CL, and Reactionary factions of the GOP. His analysis of their composition and beliefs is completely consistent with mine.
This battle will be extremely interesting for commentators such as myself. The outcome won’t matter much in November, as the party will rally around the winner in order to defeat the Democrats, no matter how extreme and hypocritical he might be (here’s looking at you, J.D.). If the Republicans win the general election and gain control of Congress, however, the ideological differences within the party will be meaningful again. That’s why the GOP Congress accomplished almost nothing in the first two Trump years.