The Republicans' civil war - or the Trump phenomenon

Washington

THE Donald Trump phenomenon ranks as the great political story of 2015 - and maybe 2016 - but could it simply be a subplot of a bigger story: what commentator David Frum, once a speechwriter for President George W Bush, calls the Republican party's "internal class war"? Yes, argues Mr Frum. His thesis is laid out in engrossing detail in the January/February issue of The Atlantic, where he is a senior editor. I don't usually recommend other journalists' work, but Mr Frum's provocative analysis is definitely worth a look (available at http://tinyurl.com/go22fnj).

Briefly, his argument goes like this: Republicans have traditionally run on what he calls Conservatism Classic: "tax cuts, budget cuts, deregulation (and) free trade". This was the essence of Mitt Romney's agenda, and it's what the party's wealthy donors expected of the 2016 campaign. The trouble is that this pro-business platform is rejected by much of the party's voter base, who support "entitlement" spending (read: Social Security and Medicare), favour higher taxes on the rich and fear free trade.