As I’ve noted in the past, the PBPs used Reactionary votes to obtain large tax cuts and deregulation for themselves, while the Reactionaries got. . . well, lots of warm words about guns, empty promises to bring mining and manufacturing jobs back, a big recession, and a failed war in Iraq. It wasn’t exactly an equal bargain, and it is hardly surprising that the Reactionaries are unhappy about it. Having failed to accomplish much in Congress with extremist tactics over the last several years, they are now expressing their anger by voting for Trump.
You would think the Trump phenomenon would result in some PBP soul searching, and a concerted effort to find a program that would appeal to disillusioned white working men without engaging in the worst excesses of Trumpism. You would be wrong, however; the predominant PBP response has been to express contempt for the Trump voters, who clearly aren’t capable of appreciating the vast benefits created for them by tax cuts for the rich limited government.
Tribal loyalties are very strong, but the likelihood of the creation of a third party is growing by the day, particularly if Trump is denied the nomination in Cleveland.