For 30 years, Stuart Stevens was one of the most influential operatives in Republican politics. He was Mitt Romney’s best strategist in 2012, starring in both George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns, and working on dozens of congressional and gubernatorial campaigns – building one of the best winning records in politics. Then Stevens saw that his party was throwing its support behind a man who stood against everything he believed in, or thought he believed in.
Most dissidents of Trumpism take a familiar line: They did not leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left them. But for Stevens, Trump forced a more fundamental recollection: the problem, he believes, is not that the GOP became something it was not; it is that many of those in it – including him – did not see what it really was. In Stevens’ new book, It was all a lie, he delivers a hurtful accusation from the party he helped build, and his role in it.
This is a conversation about the past, present and future of the Republican Party. Stevens and I discuss the differences between the Democratic and Republican coalitions, whether party members could have prevented the rise of Trump, the power that underpins the GOP base, the relationship between tax cuts for the rich and white identity policies for the poor, where ‘ t the party can and can not behind Trump, the GOP operatives are trying to put Kanye West on the ballot in 2020, how Stevens played the race card in his first campaigns, why Romney lost while Trump won, and more.
You can listen to our discussion by streaming it here, or by subscribing The Ezra Klein Show where you get your podcasts.
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