I would call Ross Douthat a principled reactionary. His ideas are grounded in medieval Catholicism, not white nationalism. He’s embarrassed by racists in the GOP. He dreams of a populist, but color-blind, version of the GOP run by fellow principled reactionaries in the interests of working people, not business. His Republican Party would represent “national conservatism,” but without the racism.
Unfortunately for Douthat, Trump’s victory in the 2016 primaries proves that a plurality of Republican voters, if not a majority, consists of white nationalists. How are they to be expunged from the party? Where would they go? And, most importantly, how would the GOP operate as a viable party on a national basis without the tens of millions of votes that they provide?
Douthat cites the George W. Bush administration as a hopeful precedent. It is true that Bush 43 didn’t run or govern as a racist. The reality, however, is that most GOP members view him as a sort of crypto-Democrat, and have long since repudiated him and “compassionate conservatism”. As a result, the only way the GOP can rid itself of racism is to be annihilated in a national election which is viewed by everyone as a referendum on white nationalism; under that scenario, the status quo would no longer be seen as a plausible alternative by anyone on the right. I can imagine that happening in, say, 2030, due to demographic changes, but it isn’t going to happen in 2020, or any time in the near future.