Good point, MAGA is a big tent.
If you're Republican but not MAGA, what is that? Are they still part of the party, or are "RINOs"?
That's not a "gotcha" question or anything, interested in your perspective on it.
My initial thought is that MAGA is really just believing in the perceived "ideals" of Trump.
Within the "deals" of the Trump train of thought, I believe there lies A LOT of ambiguity, but some core characteristics are:
1)
Anti-Orthodox. The established norms are not held sacrosanct.
2)
American Nationalist. The MAGA sphere involves both Civic and Ethnic Nationalists.
3)
Capitalist. This involves both traditional and Neo-Capitalists.
-I would say all Republicans are Capitalists or Neo-Capitalists. So that checks off that box.
-Most are Nationalists, tho some have some globalists tendencies due to their own self-interests, which begins the slippery slope into RINO land. One thing is for sure, there are approximately zero communists or anarchists in the MAGA-verse.
-Orthodoxy seems to be the biggest point of contention, as a lot of Conservative minded individuals are...well...conservative. They don't tend to like change for changes sake. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The perceived "
moral high ground" is a great example of the David Frenche's of the world trying to hold on to an old vestige or what the Republican party used to be.
To continue on the Orthodoxy topic, I think you could also divide MAGA vs. non-MAGA Republicans on whether or not they prioritize
results vs.
principle. MAGA REALLY likes to win. How they achieve that is far less important than actually winning. It's very Machiavellian by nature. Those who are more ok with losing as long as they "played the right way"
tend to avoid being under the MAGA umbrella. They exist, but I think that's a critical divide that really separates the wheat from the chaff.
TLDR: I think the vast majority of Republicans who resist Trump and would self-separate from the MAGA label tend to be more tethered to how the US has been. DC may be a swamp, but hey...like Shrek..."it's my swamp."
-Mitch McConnell (probably)
What you will find in MAGA are:
1) Isolationists and Hawks
2) Free Trade and Protectionists
3) Racists and the "color-blind"
4) Rich and Poor
5) Small government and Big government
6) religious and non-religious
7) Young and Old
MAGA is really like nothing we've seen before and I do think it is the dawning of a new age, both domestically and globally.
