The Movement: ‘Freedom Conservatives’ hope fusionism comes back in style post-Trump

Wonks and activists of the conservative-libertarian fusionist flavor are cautiously optimistic that their politics will come back in style in a post-Trump political landscape — and that they can beat back the big-government “conservatives” that have risen in the Trump era.

“Ideas and political philosophies are actually a lot more like fashion than we might want to acknowledge,” Paul Mueller, a senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, said on a panel at last week’s “Freedom Conservatism” conference.

“We’re coming a little bit out of a period where fusionism, the sort of freedom conservative, has been kind of out of fashion. I think it’s going to come back into fashion,” Mueller said. “I am optimistic on the whole. I think there is going to be a lot of disruption.”

Some of those more traditional fusionists have made inroads and alliances to push issues like tax cuts and deregulation in President Trump’s Republican party. But they’ve been largely sidelined while economic populism and enthusiasm for wielding government power have surged as Trump dominated the political scene — characteristics that have defined the “national conservatives,” or NatCons for short.

Speakers and attendees at the second year of the Freedom Conservatism conference, though, are trying to get organized to reestablish small-government conservatism that places a focus on personal and economic liberties as the dominant political force.

Akash Chougule, president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity and an organizer of the conference, noted that Trump has seen a significant drop in approval ratings among non-college educated white voters, a critical part of his base.

That is “almost entirely due to national conservative-driven self-inflicted errors like the tariffs,” Chougule said. “And so, for that reason we see a lot of momentum for our movement to reclaim the mantle of conservatism.”

Notable speakers included Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), radio host Erick Erickson, radio host Guy Benson and National Review editor Ramesh Ponnuru. Panelists from organizations such as Advancing American Freedom, American Enterprise Institute, Reason Magazine, Stand Together, LIBRE Initiative, Americans for Prosperity, Competitive Enterprise Institute, State Policy Network, Independent Women and the Mercatus Center filled out the conference’s programming. Many of those organizations have ties to the network built by Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch.

Their flavor of conservatism had a moment before Trump shook up the political scene — back when Turning Point USA was known for peppering college campuses with merchandise that said “Big Government Sucks,” or “Socialism........

© The Hill