By Alec Hogg
Ever since reading her excellent biography on Ronald Reagan, I’ve been a Peggy Noonan fan. She is a fastidious researcher and fluent writer. And possesses an ability to mute the noise, dispense with hypocrisy and get to the actual nub of an issue.
Noonan’s column on one of the Presidential candidates in the weekend’s Wall Street Journal provided pause. It was a reminder that once you strip away the character assassination veneer, a vote for Trump is actually a commitment for a return to the old America.
For all his well documented flaws, Trump promises to rebuild the US’s military power and to deploy its considerable muscle in every sphere from tighter immigration and “fairer” trade relations through to reintroducing the death penalty and executing terrorists. He will also work to repeal the disastrous Obamacare and cut taxes to incentivise human ingenuity.
That’s a message which will resonate with most voters – more relevant, surely, than his lewd comments blurted out 11 years ago. As Peggy Noonan suggests to her fellow Americans: “Before we criticise someone because the media does, maybe we should seriously consider what he has to offer.” The real question, then, has to be whether voters believe the old America can make a comeback. And if so, whether it is Trump or Clinton who will make it happen.
