Douthat is a conservative Catholic, so it is no surprise that he has feet in two of the GOP camps: the Christian Democrats and the Reactionaries. He has been the most visible (and perhaps only) proponent of a CD/Reactionary coalition, whose policies would include the following:
- Strict limits on immigration, to increase wages for domestic workers. This is a concession to the Reactionary position, as it is the antithesis of Christian charity; but then, he basically thinks Pope Francis is a heretic.
- Tax cuts and government programs tailored to the needs of working people, not the wealthy.
- Increased federal government activity on social issues, including, but not limited to, banning abortion.
- Skepticism about military interventions abroad (another departure from CD orthodoxy).
Douthat doesn’t have any use for Trump’s strong man act or for his apparent racism, but he was clearly hoping that the Trump candidacy would demolish the previous consensus in favor of supply side economics and military interventions and thus clear the way for the creation of his dream coalition. All of those hopes are in ruins now, and Douthat has become a man without an ideological home; the WSJ has ripped him for questioning the standard PBP position on tax cuts for the rich, and the Trump and Cruz campaigns have no interest in his coalition. To make things worse, the Reactionaries that he was relying on to regain control of the party from the PBPs have been exposed as self-interested proponents of racist, swaggering government. Where does he go from here?
Here’s my suggestion: England. Move to the land of Evelyn Waugh and vote for Brexit. It’s his spiritual home.