Funny thing about running as a populist.
Its always easy to run as a populist, tearing down established norms including the ones of the party you are running for. Shoot that's right out of populism 101. No one is ever really happy with their government, so criticizing your own party members that are running against you to get that special "popular appeal" works wonders. Creating a narrative that invites purity tests, focusing on one or two small things of your rivals and blowing them out of proportion, promising things that in the current political environment would not happen but are wildly popular, these things appeal to the masses immensely. The problem is when you actually have to work. You find yourself unable to live up to your own narrative and doing things that you criticized your opponents and their followers for. You may have to support someone who is a poor representative of the wave of populism you rode. Hire people that you once demonized, back away from many of the stances you once held. Of course the true believers will have excuse after excuse and even attack you for pointing out the hypocrisy and give you the very same reasons that you gave to defend what was once in their eyes unacceptable and now is acceptable. Funny thing about running as a populist, you cant govern or work within your party as one. That will be Trumps downfall.
