Editor's Note: (Bobby Jindal is the former governor of Louisiana, former head of the Republican Governors Association, and a former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. You can follow him on Twitter @BobbyJindal. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.)
(CNN) Donald Trump is no conservative. He is not conservative in policy, behavior, nor temperament. While many Republican officials see in this observation the secret to derail his path to the nomination, it may actually be one of the reasons for his success.
Trump has successfully portrayed himself as an outsider, populist, and enemy of the dreaded "GOP Establishment." But, while doing so, he has repeatedly attacked traditional Republican policies, and paid very little price for it.
Reagan Republicanism famously rests on three legs: religious conservatism, national security conservatism, and economic conservatism. On issue after issue, Donald Trump has taken delight in thumbing his nose at Republican orthodoxy.
First, in addition to previously proclaiming himself "very pro-choice," Trump has during this campaign cycle rejected a basic tenet of many Christians' faith by noting he hasn't needed to ask God for forgiveness, and on more than one occasion, missed opportunities to display his felicity with Scripture.
Second, as opposed to a traditional Republican muscular approach to foreign policy, Trump instead wants the United States to serve as an independent negotiator without taking sides, as opposed to forcefully advocating for Israel, and embraces President Barack Obama's de facto policy of allowing Russian President Vladmir Putin to reverse America's bipartisan foreign policy consensus of the last 50 years and increase Russian influence in the Middle East. And of course, he apparently wants to get rid of NATO for some reason.
Third, Trump has famously derided free trade agreements championed by many Republicans (and Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Obama), and has also rejected the need, championed repeatedly by Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders, for reforming entitlement programs in order to save them and help balance the budget.
He has embraced eminent domain to benefit private developers, and other uses of government power inconsistent with a libertarian or conservative view of property rights and the proper role of government.
Bobby Jindal's career in politics
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal waves to the crowd at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, where he spoke on February 26, 2015.
Jindal talks with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley before President Barack Obama addressed members of the National Governors Association at the White House on February 23.
Jindal and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (center) campaign with Florida Gov. Rick Scott on November 3, 2014, in The Villages, Florida.
Jindal, a gun rights advocate, speaks during the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting Leadership Forum on April 25, 2014 in Indianapolis.
Jindal greets President Obama at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans on November 8, 2013.
Following Hurricane Isaac, which hit Louisiana in August 2012, Jindal takes part in a briefing with President Obama, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana (left) and Saint John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom in the Emergency Operations Center in LaPlace, Louisiana.
Jindal campaigns for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on May 24, 2012.
Jindal and Texas Gov. Rick Perry walk together after a Perry presidential campaign meet-and-greet in Muscatine, Iowa, on December 21, 2011.
Jindal speaks with workers and fishermen involved in the cleanup effort of the BP oil spill on a command post boat in Barataria Bay on June 15, 2010, off Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Jindal listens to reporters' questions in Venice, Louisiana, on May 12, 2010, after the BP oil spill, which has been called the largest environmental disaster in American history.
Jindal shakes hands with Marine Corps veteran Elmo Norton after speaking to delegates at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans on April 9, 2010.
Jindal, his wife Supriya and children attend the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl XLIV victory parade on February 9, 2010.
Jindal tours reconstruction efforts at Jackson Barracks, the headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, with then-President George W. Bush on August 20, 2008.
Jindal speaks at St. David's Catholic Church in New Orleans with Sen. John McCain during the Arizona senator's bid for president in 2008.
Jindal takes the oath of office on January 14, 2008 -- becoming the country's first Indian-American governor -- while his wife Supriya holds the Bible.
Jindal speaks to the media at a rally in Covington after his victory in the 2007 gubernatorial race.
After he lost the gubernatorial race in 2003, Jindal ran for a seat in the U.S. House and served in Congress from 2005 until his inauguration as governor in 2008. Here, he joins Sen. Mary Landrieu and other members of the Louisiana congressional delegation at a press conference to discuss relief and recovery legislation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Jindal concedes defeat in the 2003 Louisiana governor's race at his election headquarters, with wife Supriya and 2-year-old daughter Selia-Elizabeth at his side.
Jindal shakes hands with his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, at the Louisiana gubernatorial debate in 2003.
While campaigning for his first gubernatorial campaign in November 2003, Jindal gets a high-five from young supporter in Shreveport.
Trump has certainly not contradicted every Republican belief, and has felt the need at times to change his positions, but the frontrunner's departure from traditional party positions is remarkable. The mainstream media and other critics have attacked his voters for being "low information," and -- unaware of Trump's positions -- blindly following him, due to his celebrity and outsized personality.
It is true that Obama has epitomized and ushered in the age of fame over achievement. (Thank goodness a Kardashian isn't running for president!) Eight years ago, Sen. Obama sold the country a vacuous campaign of "hope and change," devoid of substance or experience. And Trump has been brilliant at manipulating the earned media cycle, but this criticism gives him and his supporters too little credit.
Trump has succeeded in part due to his recognition that the country is finished with Obama's liberal policies and prescriptions of government dependence and redistribution as answers to stagnant growth and low wages. But, and this is the painful part, Trump has also recognized that the voters do not yet see Republican alternatives of limited government as the cure either.
It's time to face the facts -- as Republicans, we have failed to convince or demonstrate the wisdom of our conservative policies to the voters, and we are thus partially responsible for the rise of Trump.
Oh sure, Republicans have won elections these last several years by being the anti-Obama, much as Obama won eight years ago by being the anti-Bush, and have made the same mistake of misinterpreting these victories as a mandate for our ideology.
But Trump realized that many voters, including Republicans, are still wary of foreign entanglements, after years spent in Iraq, and are sympathetic to populist calls for nation-building to begin at home. He realized that many voters are angry about expanding means-tested entitlements, like Obamacare and food stamps, especially for able-bodied adults, but at the same time are fiercely protective of universal programs, like Medicare and Social Security, supported in part by their payroll contributions.
He realized that even if trade agreements generate dispersed benefits, workers hurt by the localized dislocations are much more aware of the pain than consumers are of the benefits.
These may seem like strikingly obvious realizations, but they in part explain why Republican leaders who tout the benefits of cutting government, free trade, and entitlement reform to struggling middle class voters are falling flat. To be clear, I believe in these things, but I do fear that we have failed to sufficiently make our case for these policies.
Meanwhile, middle-class voters can be forgiven for thinking that perhaps a government fighting for them, defending their jobs from foreign workers abroad or coming here illegally and defending their lives and values from radical Islamic terrorists, makes more sense than a government taking from them, as offered by Obama -- or a government they see simply defending those who have already succeeded, as offered by Republicans.
Republican voters have tired of their leaders saying one thing to get elected, and then doing precious little once in power. But, it would be naïve to pretend that simply electing more sincere leaders will resolve our challenges at a time when many voters are no longer convinced of conservatism's first principles. There are still plenty of voters who embrace traditional Republican positions, but there are many others who remain to be convinced.
Trump is not the first, nor will he be the last, Republican candidate to embrace populist elements to soften conservatism's apparent rough edges. Gov. Mike Huckabee similarly opposed Medicare and Social Security reform, Sen. Rick Santorum faulted Republicans for focusing on job creators to the exclusion of workers, and even President George W. Bush famously described himself as a "compassionate" conservative years after his father described a "kinder and gentler" Republican party.
Voices from the Rust Belt
Dolores, 85, and Richard Peters, 84, have been married since 1954 and have lived in Tonawanda, New York, just north of Buffalo, for more than 60 years. One recent afternoon over lunch at Ted's Hot Dogs, the Peterses said they've seen the population in their community change over the years, with younger people moving away in search of better jobs. Both voted for President Barack Obama twice. Neither of them planned to vote in the New York primary this year, and they haven't made up their minds about the general election. Dolores Peters says that she likes John Kasich because he seems "down-to-earth" and "honest as the day is long" and that she would have a tough time choosing between Kasich and Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, is someone she would love to have as a neighbor, but she is not sold on the Vermont senator as a presidential candidate: "His solutions are way out there. Just too far out."
Dan Ivancic, 32, was born and raised in Tonawanda. He has been working at a lumber company on the city's waterfront for nine years and is hopeful that with investments in revitalizing areas like the waterfront, younger people in his generation will be drawn back to the city. Ivancic voted for Obama in the 2008 general election and sat out four years later because he was unhappy with the president and the rest of the field.This year, he voted for Donald Trump and considers himself more a Republican than a Democrat. His No. 1 issue is the economy. "I can respect what he's built and what he's achieved. He's a businessman, and if you run our country like a business, it should run successfully," Ivancic says of Trump. "Trump speaks the truth. He's not afraid of offending people, and he says what he's going to say, and that's that. I can respect that."
Most days, you can find Tim Wiles sitting in the corner of the Swannie House, a bar in Buffalo that he has owned for more than 30 years. Born and raised in the city, the 60-year-old said everyone fled after the big steel mills in the area closed. "Anybody that graduated from college, the only thing they could do was get out," he said. The city had gone through such hard times, he says, that when the 2008 financial crisis hit, some in his community hardly felt it: "We didn't suffer because we'd been suffering for so long." Wiles thinks Trump is the most qualified presidential candidate, and he is furious about efforts within the Republican Party to stop the GOP front-runner from getting the nomination. "If the Republicans don't lay off this man, I will never vote Republican," he said.
Greg Carter, 57, was born and raised in Buffalo and works in construction at the University of Buffalo's new medical school. He said he is raising an 18-month-old daughter on his own, and when asked about his top issue during this election, he said, "Our kids are our future. It's about the kids."Carter voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 -- "He's done a whole lot for the people," he says -- and is supporting Clinton this time. "She knows what she's doing because her husband was president," he said of the Democratic front-runner. Carter fears the possibility of Trump becoming the country's next leader: "Trump, man. If he wins, we're done. He's a joke."
Ahead of Easter weekend, the Broadway Market in East Buffalo is bustling. There are vendors selling all kinds of treats: freshly popped flavored popcorn, Italian pastries, Polish pierogis and colorful Easter eggs. This is where CNN found Tony Krupski, a 73-year-old retired Polish-American, playing the accordion one Tuesday morning. He used to be in a polka band with his siblings and now plays in his free time in places like the market and senior homes. Krupski's biggest concern this election is terrorism, and he is supporting Trump. "It seems like Donald Trump has a better idea of trying to tighten things up so this ISIS thing doesn't hurt people," he said. After supporting Obama in 2008 and 2012, he voted for Sanders in the New York primary last week because he didn't want to change his party registration to Republican and doesn't want Clinton to become the Democratic nominee.
Mabel Neail, 63, has six children, 25 grandchildren and a handful of great-grandchildren. She was born in Youngstown and has lived there her whole life. In the 1980s, she worked at a towel supply company, but she says she hasn't worked since. She says she receives about $700 each month in Supplemental Security Income, $450 of which goes to rent for her home in the south side of Youngstown. Neail voted for Obama and is undecided this year. She says Clinton is a "nice lady and everything," but it's Sanders who she's drawn to on the Democratic side -- even if she can't quite remember his name: "What's his name -- Barney?" Neail likes Sanders' promise of free college because not all of her children were able to go to school. "I like that about him," she said. "A whole lot of people don't go to college maybe because they maybe can't afford it."
As mayor of Youngstown, John McNally has seen a number of the 2016 presidential candidates come through his city. But McNally, a Democrat who has not endorsed anyone in the election, says he hasn't yet heard a single candidate discuss what he believes is one of the most pressing issues facing his constituents: deteriorating infrastructure in Mahoning County. McNally says there seems to be a lot of interest in Trump -- particularly his message about national security. "But in the end, I'm not sure those are the issues I want to hear about as mayor," he said. "I want to hear what they all have to say about how they're going to help communities like Youngstown on infrastructure."
When Darlene Hood thinks about her life, she remembers these years: 1965 was the year her father died; 1978 was the year her mother died; 1985 was the year her oldest brother was killed. Hood was born in Youngstown in 1954, and her family left the city after the mils closed. But Hood decided to come back to a city that haunts her in the 1990s, and to this day, she can't explain why. "This is my home," she said. "You know how you can love and hate something at the same time?"Hood works at a group home in the north side of Youngstown, where she takes care of men with mental disabilities. Her dream is to run a group home of her own, where she can take her clients out to the amusement park and nearby cities like Cleveland or Pittsburgh. Hood hasn't decided whom she will vote for this year. She is excited about the idea of Clinton becoming the first female president, but she doesn't think anyone in the field can help her or her community. "It don't really matter to me, because ain't nobody gonna help me no way," she said.
Last month, Trump lost the Ohio Republican primary to the state's governor, Kasich. But the GOP front-runner proved to be strong in the counties along the state's eastern border, including Columbiana County, where he beat Kasich by 9 points. That's where Gary, 58, and Chris Gray, 53, live, just south of Youngstown. They have Trump signs in their front yard (and an extra one in their dining room "in case one of their friends needs one") and a bumper sticker on their Ford pickup. Both Grays have voted for Democrats and Republicans in the past. This year, they are inspired by Trump's promise of change. "He does say some things that are off the wall a little bit, but he's talking to the average person," Gary Gray said. "He's talking to people who haven't finished school." If Trump goes into the Republican convention this summer with the most delegates but doesn't come out of it as the GOP nominee, the Grays believe there will be riots: "It's going to be the people against the government."
Carolyn and Leroy Halverstadt are in their late 60s and live in East Palestine, south of Youngstown. The retired couple didn't vote in the Ohio primary, and they're still undecided on who to support in the general election. Carolyn Halverstadt is leaning toward Trump. "He's very forceful, but I really think that he would push to get things done," she said over breakfast at the popular Dutch Haus restaurant in Columbiana. Leroy Halverstadt says Trump "might be all right" as president, but he will probably end up supporting Clinton. But he has his reservations. "Even though she lied and all that stuff, I think she knows more than (Trump) does right now," he said.
Originally from New Orleans, Steven Alexander has lived in Erie since the 1990s. His wife died many years ago, and he says that raising his three children on his own can be a challenge, especially when steady jobs seem so hard to come by. In his neighborhood sits the GE Transportation plant that recently announced 1,500 layoffs. "You have to get out of Erie to get a good job," he said. "I can't seem to find a decent-paying job for myself." Alexander is an undecided voter and is considering backing Clinton. "Her husband was president, and he did a pretty good job," he said. But then he added, "Why would you lie when you were secretary of state?" Even as he constantly worries about making ends meet, Alexander's top concern this election is national security: "You don't know if ISIS is over here. You don't know who's over here."
Terri Eddy, 45, can't wait to get out of Erie. A widow who works at a Fuel-n-Food at a Shell gas station on Greengarden Boulevard, Eddy says her community has deteriorated before her eyes. "Back in the day, you could leave your doors unlocked and have your car doors unlocked. Now, you gotta make sure everything locked," she said. She saved enough money to buy a car recently, and she is waiting for the right opportunity to move away from Erie. Eddy says she may have voted once in her entire life and doesn't plan to vote this year, either. "When they get in, they don't do what they're supposed to," she said of elected officials. She is disappointed with Obama. Eddy says she thought the first African-American president would help the poor. "But after he got in, I think he did a horrible job," she said.
Cindi Orlando, 50, has loved raising her family in Erie. "You have everything here. If you want to go to Pittsburgh, go to Pittsburgh. Cleveland. You've got the lake, no natural disasters. All you've got is snow," she said. Her grandfather was the head of a steelworker's union, so while she has a lot of pride in Erie, Orlando has also had a front-row seat to the effects of the decline of manufacturing in the area. She says the violence seems to have gotten worse, and she worries about the hundreds of people who will be laid off from GE. "Where those people are going to go, I don't know."
Liberty Iron and Metal Co. is a giant recycling plant in Erie where all kinds of metal parts are brought in to be sorted, compressed and sent out to meld shops. Barry Rider, 65, who oversees the facility, says the past year or so has been difficult for his industry, and the city is hardly the "booming" place that it used to be. "It's surviving," he said. "The city itself needs to clean itself up."Rider has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and his top priority this year is jobs. He declined to say who he is likely to vote for this year but did have this to say about Trump: "He doesn't scare me. A lot of people are scared of him: 'Oh, he's crazy. He'll do this and that.' He won't be able to do half the things he wants to do if he's elected."
Beth Zimmer wishes everyone would stop referring to Erie as the Rust Belt. "Rust happens from corrosion. The corrosion piece is in the past. Now we are emerging to be the Maker Belt," she said. The 51-year-old Erie native started a nonprofit group to help entrepreneurs and startups.Zimmer is an undecided independent voter and says she is worried about Trump's political rise: "I don't understand the fact that there are so many citizens out there that are supporting something that is seemingly so dangerous for our country." She says that she isn't seeing enough serious conversations in the 2016 election about things like the economy and job creation, and that for the time being, "I'm waiting for the circus to quiet down."
Sean Candela, 62, has lived in Erie his whole life and owns two restaurants near the entrance of Presque Isle State Park. Its beach was recently voted the No. 1 freshwater beach in the country, and the park is considered one of Erie's gems, drawing a flood of tourists in the summer to businesses like Candela's. He named his restaurants after his mother, Sara. "When I get tired, you think, well, you don't want anybody saying anything bad about your mother. So it gives you a little bit of extra energy," he said. Candela has not decided which presidential candidate he'll vote for this year, though as a business owner, one of his top priorities is to be able to do his job "with as little interference as possible." He says he understands both Trump's and Sanders' appeal. But, he added, "There's appeal, and there's reality. Can anybody in the system get a lot accomplished anymore?"
President Obama certainly bears much responsibility for the rise of Trump, especially with his rhetoric and policies dividing us by class, race, gender, age, and geography.
The President's endless rhetoric on victimhood and identity politics has found its fulfillment on the Republican side in Donald Trump. But he is not alone. As long as Republicans are viewed as out-of-touch elites, simply fighting for different special interests than the Democrats, voters will be tempted to embrace the candidate who extols their interests, narrowly defined.
Trump is not opposed to big government; he is simply opposed to other folks running that government. But, we as a country are and have always been better than that. Middle-class workers, long the backbone of our aspirational society, are not simply a special interest group whose needs can be met with set asides and quotas, tax breaks, earmarks, or other special treatment from the government.
The challenge for conservatives is to explain anew why our principles are universal and relevant to the modern age, to translate our vision of limited government and increased freedom and opportunity into concrete policies that benefit middle class workers, and to renew our movement so that it truly encompasses a bottom-up approach that empowers individuals to pursue their dreams.
I am all for reducing the size and expense of government, and do not agree with the mainstream media that the Republican Party needs to abandon its conservative beliefs to be relevant or to win.
However, I believe the conservative movement must be about more than austerity for the sake of austerity; we must be more than the accountants, revenue collectors, and technocrats that make the Democrats' larger government run better through incremental change. We must go in a fundamentally different direction and show how our beliefs and resulting policies result in the type of economic growth that benefits all Americans and, again, make the case why a larger government is not the answer to our challenges.
The American people are, I believe, still optimists who will respond if we provide that roadmap, but they won't wait forever; Trump's populism provides, for many, an attractive safety blanket in the absence of a viable conservative alternative.
The idea of America -- not simply our abundant natural resources or providential geography -- the idea of limited government that guarantees, but does not create, our God-given rights, has created more wealth and freedom, done more for the weak and defenseless, than any other civilization.
The Founding Fathers recognized the power of the freedom for entrepreneurs to create something from nothing, for parents to raise their children according to their values, and for individual Americans to make their own decisions and live their lives as they see fit. The hour is late for this vision of America, and our conservative ideals, but not too late.
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Bobby Jindal is the former governor of Louisiana, former head of the Republican Governors Association, and former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. You can follow him on Twitter @BobbyJindal. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.