The Reagan Strategy

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National Review

The Reagan Strategy

by JOHN FUND July 31, 2017, Issue

The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism, by Henry Olsen (Broadside, 368 pp., $27.99) That Donald Trump is in the White House and speaking for conservatism has to prompt a vigorous debate on the right. To what extent should conservatives support Trump policies while taking a hands-off approach to his personality and tactics? To what extent should Trump be allowed to rebrand or redefine conservatism?

 What parts of Trump’s winning message are worth incorporating into modern conservatism? Henry Olsen, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, is familiar to NR readers as one of the few political pundits to nail the direction of the 2016 election. In his new book, Olsen applies his analytical skills to addressing what connects Trump’s 2016 appeal to Rust Belt voters with the success Ronald Reagan had in bringing millions of disaffected Democrats to his cause in the 1980s.

In summary, Olsen believes that conservatives are most likely to win future elections if they reach out to the non-college voters Trump was able to reach, but at the same time do not alienate upper-income, Republican-leaning voters the way Trump did in such places as the suburbs of Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix.