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Lifer
- Jun 3, 2002
- 10,518
- 271
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The real coup with Trump is if he decides to implement the progressive policies he pimped (a big if given he's unpredictable of course) before and after the election, such as universal healthcare, gov't-driven drug price negotiation, trade fairness, fiscal stimulus via infrastructure, etc. No doubt progressives will still give him flack because he's manifestly unqualified to mow lawns, but the coup here is that conservatives will have elected a Dem-light on several big, impactful policy issues when they thought they were getting a conservative POTUS. I think the one attribute his supporters voted on (knowingly or not) is his authoritarian streak, as this is a guy that seems extraordinarily likely to use the force of the state against private enterprise (drug prices, trade) as much as almost any progressive would, yet conservatives still voted for him. No doubt his authoritarian streak could also lead him to do harmful things like retribution against his political enemies, which you figure with him is a near certainly given his lack of impulse control, but maybe his lawyers will keep him in line.