Is Donald Trump a Radical Centrist?

[SillyAmerican]

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.

I have been thinking this exact thing. Hillary needs to be careful, because some of her positions are alienating large chunks of voters, and she's already not the most popular of candidates.

[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...).

[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.