Growing Cotton in Iowa (original) (raw)
An ambitious young senator offers a revealing glimpse of a post-Trump Republican Party
AS THE election of 2016 lurches to an unmourned end, it feels cruel to report that the presidential race of 2020 is already under way. This haste makes sense, at least on the Republican side. If voters on November 8th consign Donald Trump to a life of brooding defeat, filled with cable TV interviews, restless travel and insomniac tweeting, he will leave a party primed for civil strife. For a tough dilemma confronts Republicans. Full-blown Trumpism—a retro creed that blends America First nationalism, paranoia worthy of Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace-style nativism and Hugh Hefner-ish lechery—is a recipe for losing a national election. Yet without those voters who hear and see a champion in Mr Trump, Republicans will struggle to win most other elections, whether to Congress or at state level.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Growing Cotton in Iowa”
From the October 15th 2016 edition
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