President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was not a great speech -- he can no more deliver a great speech than his bargain-basement aides can craft one -- but it was greatly revealing. What it showed is how little his views have in common with what used to be known as American conservatism. There was, in fact, almost nothing conservative about it save for his cheap-shot attack on socialism (which he equated with Venezuela rather than, say, Denmark) and his evangelical-pleasing call to ban late-term abortions.
He offered almost no domestic agenda, but much of what he proposed -- more infrastructure spending, “nationwide paid family leave,” and lowering prescription drug prices -- was straight out of the liberal wish-list.