What happens when the GOP base abandons the party platform?

In 2012, the Republican Party platform was updated and refreshed. It reaffirmed the party’s commitment to conservative principles. Fast-forward to 2016. The party sent out a platform survey, the first question of which begged: “Should the national Republican Party only support candidates who adhere to our conservative principles of low taxes, small government, strong values and unwavering defense of our Constitutional freedoms?”

{mosads}Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has taken many positions on many issues throughout the years that fly in the face of conservative values: He has taken liberal positions on abortion, gun ownership and immigration. He also presents himself as a man who holds anything but conservative personal values: his marriages, affairs and colorful business career all depict a man who has lived entirely by his own rules — perhaps not always adhering to the Golden Rule — and make it impossible to package him as a traditional conservative.

Not only has Trump taken liberal positions on core platform issues, he has demonstrated a remarkable ability to contradict himself at a moment’s notice. On smaller, smarter government, for example, Trump has openly flirted with increasing the national debt and possibly using the threat of default to negotiate favorable terms with American creditors. On the other hand, he has consistently adhered to the principle that entrepreneurship and innovation can be the key to a resurgence in American prosperity.

The Republican establishment has tried several strategies to counter the Trump movement and bring the party’s base into the ideological fold, really to no avail. The first tactic was to attempt a dynastic classical conservative resurgence in the form of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush not only had the family name to bank on, but a campaign war chest that was seen as a formidable obstacle to any candidate who might challenge him. In the end, voters ignored him.

The second strategy was to keep the conservative party platform intact and then extend a plank to address immigration issues. The failure to pass immigration reform in the aftermath of the 2012 presidential elections was seen in some sense as the straw that broke the party’s back. It was a theme that Trump hit on early, whether by instinct or design, and that catapulted his candidacy to the head of the pack. Trump often claims that had he not introduced the immigration issue at the start of his campaign, it would not have become part of the larger Republican debate. He may be correct about that. Needless to say, Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Texas), former rivals for the nomination, actually tried to blend the traditional Republican platform with a strong immigration stance and both came up well short in the delegate race.

American anger and pessimism have transcended party ideology in this year’s elections. Nothing the Republican Party does, short of total reform or amending the rules at the last minute, will change the outcome of the nominating process at this point. The voters driving the Trump train are not necessarily “conservative” in the traditional sense. They are in effect nostalgic, harkening back to a time when America was a better place for them. Many of them are white, lower middle-class males, who look around them and see foreigners and people of color occupying roles that in the past would have been exclusively reserved for white males. And that angers them. The Republican Party platform would have to be completely amended in order to become relevant to this segment of the electorate. The problem, of course, is that such amendments would almost by definition offend the party elites.

The crux of the issue here — what happens to a party when its base abandons it — is an important issue for the Republicans to address now. The fact of the matter is that this election also offers an opportunity for conservatives to think outside the box and reinvent themselves. With Donald Trump sucking up the lion’s share of the media time, the party certainly has the cover to at least try.

Williams is a political columnist, radio show host on SiriusXM and the author of “Reawakening Virtues.” Follow him on Twitter @Arightside.