This is peak ‘play stupid games win stupid prizes’ territory. I think Haberman’s general contention is probably true but it’s because people like Haley invest their time and energy trying to play sides/win favors rather than have principle/govern.
https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1362459599903817733
So if you’re a pol whose moral and intellectual center isn’t enough to ground you (see Haley, Nikki) then, yes, you’re going to get burned and snubbed.
Which I think is a feature, not a bug, of the system. It punishes fake people far more than it does people who are committed to something (even something you or I may not like) - people with some kind of through-line, like Romney or Larry Hogan, Cotton or Mike Lee.
And this isn’t a muh principles/conservatism conserved point. The actual policy or framework someone relies on isn’t that important. It’s just about having one that’s relatively consistent.
The Trump era has revealed a whole lot of pols, particularly on the right, as operating in a way that’s unmoored from anything but narrow self-interest. I think most people would agree that’s bad. Trump just happens to be a super handy tool to ferret out who’s operating that way.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
