E.J. Dionne on Why the Right Went Wrong<\/a><\/h2>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/assets\/media\/img\/posts\/2016\/03\/EJDBook\/6ea6be77f.png?resize=320%2C461&ssl=1\")
E.J. Dionne\u2019s new book, on the path toward Trump.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
The personal-insult war underway last night<\/a> between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz brings the campaign down to a level hard to imagine even in the days of \u201cLittle Marco\u201d and \u201csmall hands.\u201d If the concept of being \u201cqualified\u201d for the presidency still had any salience, Trump\u2019s astonishing meeting with theWashington<\/em> Post<\/em> editorial board this week (transcript here<\/a>) would have instantly and conclusively removed him from the race. It was not his inability and\/or refusal to engage any<\/em>point of substance that was so remarkable\u2014and so much worse than with, say, Sarah Palin<\/a> or Rick Perry. Rather it was his seventh-grade-locker-room obsession with \u201csize\u201d issues, as Conor Friedersdorf very convincingly<\/a> demonstrates.<\/p>\nHow did we get here? One of the most useful explanations I\u2019ve seen is from E.J. Dionne in his new book Why the Right Went Wrong<\/em><\/a>. I\u2019d urge you to read it yourself \u2014 but if you\u2019d like an overview, here is a discussion I did with him last month, at the Kentucky Author Forum<\/a> in Louisville. A video version has just gone up on the Kentucky Educational Television site, with a good description<\/a> of E.J.\u2019s argument by Patrick Reed.<\/p>\nDionne starts this book by saying, \u201cThe history of contemporary American conservatism is a story of disappointment and betrayal,\u201d and he goes on to connect that 50-year pattern (since the Barry Goldwater days) to the fury of today\u2019s GOP. \u00a0Wave after wave of conservative leaders, Dionne says, have promised their base that they finally<\/em> can produce sweeping rightwing changes to undo the Democrats\u2019 handiwork. Wave after wave of conservative leaders is unable to do so. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner can\u2019t undo Obamacare; John Roberts turns into Earl Warren (from the right\u2019s point of view); and a one-time Tea Party darling like Marco Rubio sells out on an immigration deal. Everyone\u2019s a RINO! So it\u2019s time to double down. This road leads to Cruz and Trump.<\/p>\nAgain, for the full version consult this very illuminating book. Also consider the video below. [CB note: Watch here<\/a> if the video doesn\u2019t appear.] Thanks to our friends in Kentucky for putting on this forum.
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/assets\/media\/img\/posts\/2016\/03\/EJDBook\/6ea6be77f.png\")
E.J. Dionne\u2019s new book, on the path toward Trump.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
The personal-insult war underway last night<\/a> between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz brings the campaign down to a level hard to imagine even in the days of \u201cLittle Marco\u201d and \u201csmall hands.\u201d If the concept of being \u201cqualified\u201d for the presidency still had any salience, Trump\u2019s astonishing meeting with theWashington<\/em> Post<\/em> editorial board this week (transcript here<\/a>) would have instantly and conclusively removed him from the race. It was not his inability and\/or refusal to engage any<\/em>point of substance that was so remarkable\u2014and so much worse than with, say, Sarah Palin<\/a> or Rick Perry. Rather it was his seventh-grade-locker-room obsession with \u201csize\u201d issues, as Conor Friedersdorf very convincingly<\/a> demonstrates.<\/p>\n How did we get here? One of the most useful explanations I\u2019ve seen is from E.J. Dionne in his new book Why the Right Went Wrong<\/em><\/a>. I\u2019d urge you to read it yourself \u2014 but if you\u2019d like an overview, here is a discussion I did with him last month, at the Kentucky Author Forum<\/a> in Louisville. A video version has just gone up on the Kentucky Educational Television site, with a good description<\/a> of E.J.\u2019s argument by Patrick Reed.<\/p>\n Dionne starts this book by saying, \u201cThe history of contemporary American conservatism is a story of disappointment and betrayal,\u201d and he goes on to connect that 50-year pattern (since the Barry Goldwater days) to the fury of today\u2019s GOP. \u00a0Wave after wave of conservative leaders, Dionne says, have promised their base that they finally<\/em> can produce sweeping rightwing changes to undo the Democrats\u2019 handiwork. Wave after wave of conservative leaders is unable to do so. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner can\u2019t undo Obamacare; John Roberts turns into Earl Warren (from the right\u2019s point of view); and a one-time Tea Party darling like Marco Rubio sells out on an immigration deal. Everyone\u2019s a RINO! So it\u2019s time to double down. This road leads to Cruz and Trump.<\/p>\n Again, for the full version consult this very illuminating book. Also consider the video below. [CB note: Watch here<\/a> if the video doesn\u2019t appear.] Thanks to our friends in Kentucky for putting on this forum.
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