MAGA is not the same as Conservative

I half wonder why I’m bothering with this post. Maybe it’s because this is just something that bothers me. Maybe it’s because the lumping of groups of people together seems lazy and unfair. Maybe it’s because of something I ate. Who knows. But I felt the need to write this and make the argument that MAGA and conservatives are not the same.

Politics is an interesting beast. Often in our modern context, we try to simplify politics into easy soundbites, put people into pre-determined and pre-defined boxes, and lump together what we think is similar — especially when it comes to those we are opposed to. The logic usually goes something like this — “If you aren’t on my side, then you must be my enemy.” I’ve seen this from both conservative and liberal politicians, media sources, and on social media. In some regards, this really isn’t anything specific to politics — it’s more a feature of humanity.

Back when I worked for a member of Congress, I remember being told that relationships with those on the other side of the aisle were important and also a bit tricky. One moment you were strongly opposing what another member was supporting, and the next, you were asking for them to support your legislation. That doesn’t happen though when politics becomes too personal, where there is mistrust, tribalism, and more.

One of the areas that I’ve seen this happen is in the lumping of the MAGA (Make America Great Again, Trump) universe together with conservatives. Granted, there is often policy overlap between these…