Prior to Ronald Reagan, the GOP was a relatively moderate pro-business party that genuinely hated deficits and was suspicious of foreign adventures. Reagan gave the party swagger, both at home and abroad, and Republican voters loved it. The GOP has never been the same since.
Trump doesn’t necessarily believe in much of what passes for standard GOP ideology, but he provides swagger in spades. As a result, he can change his positions on a dime without losing his voters as long as he continues to express himself forcefully and thus look like a strong leader.
Trumpian swagger would never play with the blue base. Is there a Democratic equivalent of swagger?
That’s a difficult question. If you accept the notion that the Democrats are the “mommy” party, which they largely are, you would want someone who is somehow ostentatiously nurturing. That wouldn’t work with swing voters concerned about national security.
I think the best answer is that the Democrats need someone who is charismatic and uplifting in the manner of Obama and Kennedy. The problem, for them, is that these qualities are a lot harder to find than swagger.