Steve Bannon wants to blow up actual conservatism's chance of ever prevailing

You must read Jim Geraghty's Morning Jolt at NRO. It's about Steve Bannon's bellow-fest on Sean Hannity's television program the other night. Bannon is on a tear to raise funds and find primary challengers in order to put every last Republican federal legislator on notice that they'd better be sufficiently conservative populist.

The thing is, there's actually, in terms of voting records, a fair amount of solid support for the Trump "agenda," such as it is.

The problem for the Trump administration is not really one of insufficiently loyal or cooperative Republican senators. Peruse the tables over at Five-Thirty-Eight about how often GOP senators vote the way the Trump administration prefers. Fifteen Republican senators have voted with the White House 95.9 percent of the time. The least “loyal” Republican senator is Susan Collins of Maine, and even she has voted with the White House position 79 percent of the time. The most cooperative Democrat has been Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who votes with the White House position 55 percent of the time.

As I noted this weekend, one of Bannon’s targets, John Barrasso of Wyoming, is one of those senators who has voted with the White House’s position 95.9 percent of the time. The two times he didn’t was on Russian sanctions; on one of the votes the tally was 98 to 2. There is no right-of-center ideology or policy argument against Barrasso remaining as a senator. It is entirely stylistic. Ask a Trump supporter why Barrasso has to go – and I have – and you get answers like “they didn’t pass repeal and replace.” But that’s the fault of John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and, in the most recent case, Rand Paul! Barrasso voted for it.

No, the Bannon argument is entirely about style. Barrasso is an even-tempered, soft-spoken statesman and that sort of lawmaker doesn’t hold the interests of the angry populists. This is an argument about aesthetics masquerading as one about ideology and policy. The angry populists want to be entertained. They want drama.

Or, as the formerly principled and clear-thinking but now Kool-Aid-besotted Rush Limbaugh put it on his radio show yesterday, voting correctly is not enough. These people must "join the movement"!

I'm beginning to think I underestimated how creepy this was going to get. How long before journalism outlets and legislators have to sign loyalty oaths?

And loyalty to what? Certainly not a clear and consistent vision for "making American great again." I for one can't get excited about, much less be loyal to, a guy whose next utterance is entirely beyond prediction.

I hope GOP strategists are discussing how to thwart this.