Trump was finally asked The Question.

His answer tells us everything we need to know.

One of the most puzzling aspects of the Trump phenomenon has been his ability to convince conservatives that he is one of them. To the extent that he bothers to articulate them, his positions on almost every key issue are directly in opposition to conservative orthodoxy. His position on trade, for example, is WAY left of Hillary’s and even makes Bernie Sanders look like a moderate. He routinely plays fast and loose with the Constitution, another major conservative taboo. He has shown utter contempt for the First Amendment, making suggestions that are openly hostile to its clauses on religious freedom and freedom of the press. And he is certainly not fiscally conservative either. Remember 2013, when conservatives shut down the federal government over the issue of federal budget deficits? Trump’s proposals would balloon that deficit by an estimated $10 trillion over the next 10 years. Not even his rhetoric is conservative. Reagan said, “ government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Reagan believed that with more freedom, we could solve America’s problems from the bottom up. Trump’s message is “elect me president and I’ll solve all your problems from the top down.” This is much more like Obama’s message than Reagan’s. Despite all of this, a significant plurality of the GOP electorate (around 35%) continue to believe Trump is a conservative.

On CNN’s Town Hall broadcast on March 29th, Trump made a statement that should finally put this fantasy to rest. He was asked The Question; the one question that any conservative should be able to answer as easily as if he were asked his own birthday. The question that should be an uncompromising litmus test for any conservative voter. This is the question conservative candidates for president pray for. It is the ultimate softball, red meat question. It is a chance to prove your bona fides on the issue most central to conservative ideology. And it was an even bigger opportunity for Trump; this was his chance to shut skeptics like me up and prove once and for all that he really is a conservative.

He blew it.

The Question was asked by a member of the audience, a combat veteran named Robert Kitelinger who is currently a student at Marquette University.

Mr. Trump. In your opinion, what are the top three functions of the United States government?

For true conservatives, this really is THE Question. It gets at the fundamental principle at the core of every other conservative policy. Why do conservatives believe in low taxes? Why do they support school choice and oppose federal mandates in education? Why do they oppose Obamacare so ferociously? Why are they so skeptical of new gun laws? Why are they so picky about the federal budget? Why do they oppose federal regulations? Why do they admire Justice Scalia? The answer to all of these questions is perfectly clear once you understand it through the lens of The Question. What is the proper role of the Federal Government?

The answer is fairly simple. Conservatives believe that the role of the Federal Government is strictly limited, both legally by the Constitution and morally by the principle of individual liberty. The federal government should do what the constitution says it should do; everything else should be left to individuals and to the States. In his first inaugural address, Reagan said,

“It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.”

Reagan isn’t making this distinction up; it is baked into the Constitution. It was explicitly stated by the founding fathers in the Bill of Rights. Conservatives believe we should take this distinction seriously. Liberals, whether they would admit it or not, view government differently. They tend to see the role of government as much more active and prescriptive. They are less concerned with the Constitutional role of government and more concerned with all the problems (they believe) the government can solve. This is why they support things like nationalized health care and Federal education mandates like Common Core. Conservatives don’t oppose these things because they are somehow opposed to health care or education in principle. They oppose them because “provide education and healthcare” isnt listed in Article I, Section 8 of the constitution as a responsibility of the Federal Government. Therefore, they believe, like the founding fathers did, that these things should be left to individuals or to the States. This, more than anything else, is the difference between a conservative and a liberal. Without this principle, conservatism has no useful meaning. That is why Robert’s question is so important.

So what is the conservative answer? Well, you can read it for yourself in the Constitution. But to summarize, the Federal Government should protect us from outside threats, regulate some commerce, provide courts for dispute resolution and contract enforcement, print money, deliver the mail, and not much else. (Hint: nothing in there about providing healthcare, education, or housing. This will be important later.) This is Conservatism 101. Any true conservative politician could have given an answer at least as detailed as the one I just gave. The best conservative politicians could have said it much better than I did. If Trump had said anything like any of the above, he would have brought the house down. He would have won over a lot of skeptics. If he had really nailed it, I think he could have locked up the nomination right there.

Instead, we got this:

TRUMP: Security. I say all top three are security, but health care, education, would be probably three that would be top.

Security, health care, and education. Even Anderson Cooper seemed stunned. When pressed, Trump confirmed (and augmented) his answer:

Yes, sure. I mean, there are obviously many things, housing, providing great neighborhoods…

Wrong answer. Security, at least, he got right. That is something everyone (including the framers of the Constitution) can agree on. But to include providing health care, education, and housing in his top functions of the Federal Government quite simply precludes him from ever being called a conservative again. Of the eighteen enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8, six of them relate to security. For the remainder of his answer, Trump could have taken his pick from the remaining twelve and remained on solid ground. Instead, he ignored the Constitution entirely and gave us three talking points straight out of the Bernie Sanders platform. His answer makes it clear that his ideas about the proper role of government are not coming from the Constitution. With the exception of security, none of the things he listed can be found anywhere in our founding document. And if you aren’t using the Constitution to decide what the government should be doing, you aren't a conservative. Period.

It is inexplicable that a Republican candidate for president would answer The Question without referencing the Constitution. Trump not only failed to mention it, he gave an answer that indicates that he has either never read it or doesn’t care what it says. His answer tells conservative voters everything they need to know.

The only question remaining is, were they listening?

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