“‘The likelihood of the Republican Party surviving this, of there being another Republican president in the future, is small,’ said one movement conservative who served in the Bush White House. ‘You’re assuming that “establishment Republicans” are going to be Republicans anymore,’ said Juleanna Glover, a GOP lobbyist and former staffer to then-Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri. “As yet there seems to be no coherent vision for what kind of future November 9 brings for the Republican Party-or, for that matter, if there will even be a Republican Party they could support. ‘One side is skewing single-payer health care, the other is skewing antigay and pro-gun, and no one is serving as the steward of pro-growth competitiveness policy.'” ‘Careful business people don’t have a party right now,’ says Ms Glover. The centre is open, but if Democrats decide to appeal exclusively to their base and ignore centrist voters, that’s how it will stay. The party’s ascendant left wing has much the same hostility to free trade as Mr Trump, and it also favours higher taxes and a $15 minimum wage. The tech industry aside, mistrust of Democrats and their regulatory zeal remains widespread among business bigwigs. “But cancelling discounts and raising the age for gun purchases hardly constitutes a full-scale political realignment. Still, as Juleanna Glover, a corporate consultant who has worked for several prominent Republicans, notes, ‘I don’t know that anyone other than the Trump administration thinks trade war is a good idea.’ And while some American multinationals favour open markets, plenty of smaller businesses may well support a little protectionism if it helps them compete with big-box stores crammed with cheap Chinese tat. Juleanna Glover: “Many also cheer his tax cuts and deregulatory instinct.
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