It is a striking example of modern conservatism's emphasis on the moral worth of the individual. ... When I look at the debate over Elian...I have to say that rarely have I been prouder of my fellow conservatives.

One of the things we've learned about Donald Trump is he totally obsessed by the media. He is like the media critic-in-chief. He watches more cable news than people who work in cable news do. And he's extremely thin skinned about it.

For decades, people right, left, and center complained that the presidency is too powerful. Trump's administration is shrinking the presidency. The president has less and less influence over Congress. This president is not fulfilling the usual role of the president in being the moral leader and the spokesman for the country. He's just not being looked to for leadership.

Republicans ought to propose conservative answers to the concerns that are uppermost on most voters’ minds. The libertarian-populist method seems to be to start with the solutions and then to imagine that voters have the relevant concerns. And while many of the proposed solutions have great potential appeal to conservative voters, few would do much to expand their ranks.

I think the Republicans starting more and more to ignore President Trump. I think they have realized - it's taken a while, but I think a lot of them have realized there isn't going to be a change, he is who he is, there's not going to be some pivot or some growing in office, and they have to deal with that. I don't think they have come together to figure out how exactly they move forward, but I think they are at least beginning to get a grip on the problem.

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