Is Donald Trump a Radical Centrist?

[Figueira]

Liberal democrat. Next?

well no he can't be a liberal democrat, he's not from the uk.  besides, trump would either be a kipper or a tory if he was british

He could fit in fairly well in the Russian Lib Dems. Maybe even the fringes of the Japanese ones too.

That's because the political spectrum in the UK is shifted to the left.

The UK is left-wing, therefore Trump would be part of a right-wing party in Russia and Japan?

[SillyAmerican]

The term "Radical Centrist" appears to me to be an oxymoron: I would think a centrist to be a person whose positions lie at the center of the political spectrum, in which case how can those positions be characterized as "radical"? (Although given how polarized the electorate is these days, perhaps that's not entirely out of the question...).

[This account no longer in use.]

A Radical Centrist combines aspects of the dissident left and dissident right. They primarily anti-establishment rather than ideologues. They may support conservative positions such as immigration restrictions but may align with the left on non-interventionism, protecting entitlements, and regulating Wall Street. They tend to be moderate or ambivilent on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

This.

Trump does get mileage out of issue positions where the right and left converge.  This is why more Bernie Sanders supporters will support Trump than conventional wisdom suggests.  They are closer to Trump on the issues than they are to Hillary Clinton, IMO.

What the hell are you talking about?

Here's a basic political spectrum:

<---------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------->
        Sanders           Clinton             Trump

In what world is Sanders closer to Trump on the issues than he is to Clinton? Unless you're claiming that Trump is to the left of Clinton.

[wolfsblood07]

No sir.  Trump is a right wing populist, like Pat Buchanan or radio host Michael Savage.  Which is to say, he does not adhere strictly to the conventional conservative doctrine of free trade and big business.  But he is very much a traditionalist and against wasteful government programs.  Unlike Buchanan, he is not a fierce opponent of the radical gay rights agenda.  Unfortunately, I might add.

[Ronnie]

No sir.  Trump is a right wing populist, like Pat Buchanan or radio host Michael Savage.  Which is to say, he does not adhere strictly to the conventional conservative doctrine of free trade and big business.  But he is very much a traditionalist and against wasteful government programs.  Unlike Buchanan, he is not a fierce opponent of the radical gay rights agenda.  Unfortunately, I might add.

If wanting equality is "radical", then deal me in.  

[NeverAgain]

No sir.  Trump is a right wing populist, like Pat Buchanan or radio host Michael Savage.  Which is to say, he does not adhere strictly to the conventional conservative doctrine of free trade and big business.  But he is very much a traditionalist and against wasteful government programs.  Unlike Buchanan, he is not a fierce opponent of the radical gay rights agenda.  Unfortunately, I might add.

Finally, someone is bringing this topic back. No one talks of those dirty homosexuals lifestyles or their communist campaign for "rainbows for all". #NeverGay

[Kingpoleon]

No, he's a nationalist paleoconservative.

[IceSpear]

No, he's a right wing progressive fascist centrist.

[RR1997]

Donald John Trump is not a radical centrist.

[hopper]

No sir.  Trump is a right wing populist, like Pat Buchanan or radio host Michael Savage.  Which is to say, he does not adhere strictly to the conventional conservative doctrine of free trade and big business.  But he is very much a traditionalist and against wasteful government programs.  Unlike Buchanan, he is not a fierce opponent of the radical gay rights agenda.  Unfortunately, I might add.

Savage is weird in that he supported a Jim Webb Presidency.

[hopper]

No, he's a nationalist paleoconservative.

Yeah I agree.

[hopper]

Donald Trump is a populist.

On the political spectrum, he is a defensive nationalist.

He wants to isolate the US from those he sees would cause harm.

Chinese trade
Mexican illegal immigration
Islamic terrorism

TRUMP wants smart trade, not stupid trade. When the country loses billions of dollars each year and lots of jobs, something is wrong. He wants to renegotiate these agreements and make great trade deals. It's just the Art of the Deal.

TRUMP wants legal immigration, not illegal immigration. Each sovereign country has the right to decided who should come in and who not. And has the right to protect it's borders against drugs pouring in. Of course, many people who come in illegaly aren't bad people. But they have to go through a process and earn a legal status. TRUMP even says the depoted ones (the good ones) can come back through a legal process.

TRUMP wants to cooperate with others (like Russia) to defeat ISIS. The middle-east policies of the previous administrations have mainly failed, even with Obama having good intentions.

You think Putin is a good guy?

[136or142]

No, he is a narcissist with no coherent philosophy whatsoever, other than a philosophy that, for some reason, he wants to be President.

He may be a genuine authoritarian, but although I think closer to the middle it's mostly conservative who are authoritarians, there seem to be a fair number of liberal leaning authoritarians as well - sometimes referred to as do-gooders or nosy do-gooders.)  Of course, if you go to the extremes their are hard core leftists and hard core rightists who are both extreme authoritarians as well as hard core leftists and hard core rightists who are extreme anti authoritarians.

So, that he is likely an authoritarian I don't think necessarily says anything about any other of his political views, if he even has any political views that are worth being taken seriously.

Combining the two, if you agree with George Orwell, he wants to be President to have power itself, and not to do anything with it.

[President Pepe]

I know the term Radical Centrist can be confusing. On one hand you have establishment types such as Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zhakaria who have used that term to describe their ideology, which is Neo-liberal globalism. On the other you have a Radical Centrist Populism which is protectionist, immigration restrictionist, and was best represented by the Reform Party, which Trump was once a member of. Trump wrote a book back in 2000 when he was considering a run under the Reform Party. Back than he was pro-choice and advocated a massive tax increase on the ultra wealthy. Since than Trump has ran to the right to win the GOP primary. My personal ideal of radical Centrism would be a combination of the best aspects of Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, and Ralph Nader. Trump is far from idea but he is the closest to that of anyone running.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Donald Trump is a populist.

On the political spectrum, he is a defensive nationalist.

He wants to isolate the US from those he sees would cause harm.

Chinese trade
Mexican illegal immigration
Islamic terrorism

This is part of the secret to Trump's success.  Seen in these terms, he wants things everyone can agree with, and makes them top priorities.  The Democrats are in a position where they appear to be more concerned with not appearing to be racist and xenophobic then about the safety of ordinary Americans.  A party that comes off this way will have trouble when push comes to shove.

[President Pepe]

Whats ironic is that the establishment conservatives have attacked Trump both for being to liberal and a right wing extremist. Goes back to Jonah Goldberg's liberal fascist meme.

[Meclazine for Israel]

No, he is a narcissist with no coherent philosophy whatsoever, other than a philosophy that, for some reason, he wants to be President.

He may be a genuine authoritarian, but although I think closer to the middle it's mostly conservative who are authoritarians, there seem to be a fair number of liberal leaning authoritarians as well - sometimes referred to as do-gooders or nosy do-gooders.)  Of course, if you go to the extremes their are hard core leftists and hard core rightists who are both extreme authoritarians as well as hard core leftists and hard core rightists who are extreme anti authoritarians.

So, that he is likely an authoritarian I don't think necessarily says anything about any other of his political views, if he even has any political views that are worth being taken seriously.

Combining the two, if you agree with George Orwell, he wants to be President to have power itself, and not to do anything with it.

Interesting summary Adam. I cannot argue with most of that and it's partly because Trump is a billionaire.

Trump is a narcissist. And a hopeless one at that.

When he talks, you can hear him driving off  in a tangent to "Me, Me, Me Avenue, then MySelf Street, then Myself Road."

Everyone can hear his narcissism.

But I think people will forgive that if Trump is tightfisted with the US economy.

The USA has become a little bit of a dumping ground for all three issues.

You guys have been hit by terrorism (multiple times), invaded by Latino drugs and swamped by cheap Chinese manufactured crap.

That needs to be fixed on a basic "symbology" level.

It's a reflection more of the national identity which people are now repulsed by.

They are 4 years past "had enough". People are pissed off with the identity of the USA now. Islamic terrorism really flips peoples' burgers. Importing drugs into the USA openly through the southern border eats at the heart of the American identity.

These issues actually kill US citizens.

The honesty of "The Lone Ranger" in the 1950's where people treated each other with respect is long gone when thinking about these issues.

Hence a defensive nationalist (narcissism or otherwise) is seen as the obvious solution.

It's clear Trump has done his market research, so on the level of saying what people want to hear so he can be President, you have nailed it.

There does not appear to be an obvious mandate behind his candidacy apart from removing issues as described. He does change his story to get votes as any populist would.

Trump is not a "principled" candidate like Ted Cruz whose political viewpoints are set in concrete.

Donald Trump is a populist.

On the political spectrum, he is a defensive nationalist.

He wants to isolate the US from those he sees would cause harm.

Chinese trade
Mexican illegal immigration
Islamic terrorism

This is part of the secret to Trump's success.  Seen in these terms, he wants things everyone can agree with, and makes them top priorities.  The Democrats are in a position where they appear to be more concerned with not appearing to be racist and xenophobic then about the safety of ordinary Americans.  A party that comes off this way will have trouble when push comes to shove.

If Trump just stuck to these three things, and left out the offensive borderline attention grabbing one liner's, he would nearly be President by now.

The Democrats need to be careful they simply do not try and put 95% of their energy into #neverTrump 2.0

Because we all know how that will end.

Clinton needs to stand up and address her policies and why they are better.

[ag]

A Radical Centrist combines aspects of the dissident left and dissident right. They primarily anti-establishment rather than ideologues. They may support conservative positions such as immigration restrictions but may align with the left on non-interventionism, protecting entitlements, and regulating Wall Street. They tend to be moderate or ambivilent on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

This.

Trump does get mileage out of issue positions where the right and left converge.  This is why more Bernie Sanders supporters will support Trump than conventional wisdom suggests.  They are closer to Trump on the issues than they are to Hillary Clinton, IMO.

What the hell are you talking about?

Here's a basic political spectrum:

<---------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------->
        Sanders           Clinton             Trump

In what world is Sanders closer to Trump on the issues than he is to Clinton? Unless you're claiming that Trump is to the left of Clinton.

Unidimensional model is inadequate even in the best of times, and this year...

[This account no longer in use.]

A Radical Centrist combines aspects of the dissident left and dissident right. They primarily anti-establishment rather than ideologues. They may support conservative positions such as immigration restrictions but may align with the left on non-interventionism, protecting entitlements, and regulating Wall Street. They tend to be moderate or ambivilent on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

This.

Trump does get mileage out of issue positions where the right and left converge.  This is why more Bernie Sanders supporters will support Trump than conventional wisdom suggests.  They are closer to Trump on the issues than they are to Hillary Clinton, IMO.

What the hell are you talking about?

Here's a basic political spectrum:

<---------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------->
        Sanders           Clinton             Trump

In what world is Sanders closer to Trump on the issues than he is to Clinton? Unless you're claiming that Trump is to the left of Clinton.

Unidimensional model is inadequate even in the best of times, and this year...

Fair enough, but my point still stands. Sanders is closer to Clinton on economic, social, and foreign issues.

[Sir Mohamed]

No, he’s a narcissist and a fraud who advocates right-wing populism and voodoo economics.

[SillyAmerican]

Donald Trump is a populist.

On the political spectrum, he is a defensive nationalist.

He wants to isolate the US from those he sees would cause harm.

Chinese trade
Mexican illegal immigration
Islamic terrorism

This is part of the secret to Trump's success.  Seen in these terms, he wants things everyone can agree with, and makes them top priorities.  The Democrats are in a position where they appear to be more concerned with not appearing to be racist and xenophobic then about the safety of ordinary Americans.  A party that comes off this way will have trouble when push comes to shove.

Agreed. If you focus on two or three core issues that everyone can agree with ("It's the economy, stupid" being the classic example), you've at least got a chance. Trump is running on what many believe to be vital: securing the border, defeating Islamic terrorism, and looking out for American trade interests. That's his focus, in a nutshell.

We'll see whether those on the left can make the charges of Trump being a racist, xenophobe, and misogynist really stick; I suspect many will consider these accusations to be political noise, and will focus on the issues and a candidate's approach to addressing those issues, and in so doing, will find Tump to be an interesting candidate worthy of consideration.

[Medal506]

No sir.  Trump is a right wing populist, like Pat Buchanan or radio host Michael Savage.  Which is to say, he does not adhere strictly to the conventional conservative doctrine of free trade and big business.  But he is very much a traditionalist and against wasteful government programs.  Unlike Buchanan, he is not a fierce opponent of the radical gay rights agenda.  Unfortunately, I might add.

Savage is weird in that he supported a Jim Webb Presidency.

He also hates Ted Cruz and Rand Paul because he thinks they're both unelectable and not conservative enough. Yet he endorsed Donald Trump the day after he announced his candidacy.