fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Illinois Primary: MAGA v. MAGA

State of the Union: “Trumpism without Trump” remains unviable in Illinois’s 12th Congressional District.
Screen Shot 2023-12-08 at 4.43.21 PM
Credit: picryl

One of the questions of the past eight years has been whether there be such a thing as “Trumpism without Trump”—some magical set of policies and postures that will activate the voters who carried President Trump to the White House once and may again. This hypothetical construction cuts out the part of the Trump phenomenon that many historical GOP voters find objectionable, namely the man himself.

It has been a bad cycle for that theory. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy both ran as close to Trump as humanly possible without killing the man and wearing his skin; the voters looked at them, thought for a minute or two, and threw the lever for Donald J. Trump, some of them for the fifth time, including both the 2016 and 2020 general elections. (Indeed, presumably one or two stalwarts for the sixth time, having supported his run for the Reform ticket back in the mists of time.)

If that didn’t end the idea of “Trumpism without Trump,” tonight’s display in Illinois's 12th Congressional District will.

Mike Bost, the district’s incumbent congressman, decisively beat Darren Bailey, a former Illinois state representative and gubernatorial candidate, 53 percent to 47 percent. Bailey was supported by Florida’s Rep. Matt Gaetz, the most prominent exponent of “Trumpism” currently in the House, perhaps in the nation. (Bost and Gaetz had been at odds over support for the former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.) Bost was supported by Trump. That was that.

And, naturally, Trump won the presidential primary with overwhelming margins—not that it matters at this point, of course.

Comments

Become a Member today for a growing stake in the conservative movement.
Join here!
Join here