Amidst the populism, the nativism, the rise of fake news and the ritual denigration of truth, what stands out as the truly dominant characteristic of today’s right wing is all the bitching and moaning.

Ours is an era of Crybaby Conservatism — and the stone cold fact of the matter is that it seems to be working.

As a calculated political practice, Crybaby Conservatism holds that support can be had, funds can be raised and votes can be won by ceaselessly stirring people’s insecurities and endlessly playing the martyr. This new breed of right-wingers loves to list the many gross injustices to which they are subject. They issue ominous warnings that to be a conservative is to be put-upon and looked down on. Increasingly, they self-identify as victims.

This is definitely a departure. Conservatives used to campaign on rugged individualism and the projection of strength. Those of the modern breed are a whimpering litter of easily wounded weaklings. And they just can’t shut up about it.

Almost daily, Donald Trump takes to Twitter to complain about the slights and insults inflicted upon him and, by extension, his millions of supporters. He is a 70-year old white male billionaire set to assume the full authority of the presidency of the United States. Outside of comic books, it’s impossible to imagine someone with greater access to personal power. And yet, he persistently rallies his followers with claims that he, and they, are subject to humiliating treatment by powerful, threatening forces. Like comedians and Broadway musicals.

The same goes for Europe. Consider the messages underpinning the appeal of Marine Le Pen or the disaffection that fuelled Brexit. It’s a familiar litany of propagandized harms. Immigrants are taking your jobs. Sharia law is set to sweep our cities. Dollars spent on the EU could fund the National Health Service. And to quarrel with these arguments is to be branded as some sort of reverse-bully — with minorities portrayed as menacing scolds and bigotry applauded as politically incorrect courage.

Trump. Hannity. Coulter. Leitch. These people spend gigantic portions of their time playing the suck, manufacturing and exaggerating the slightest possible offence. Always for attention — and usually for money. Trump. Hannity. Coulter. Leitch. These people spend gigantic portions of their time playing the suck, manufacturing and exaggerating the slightest possible offence. Always for attention — and usually for money.

Here at home, it’s no different. Kellie Leitch moves from caucus nobody to number one in the Conservative leadership contest by reminding the rank and file that she is permanently under attack for the audacity of her views. Recently, her campaign went so far as to blame a break-in at her home on unscrupulous, dangerous leftists. So rattled was she by the violent intentions of these anonymous, tax-hiking multiculturalists that she had to withdraw from a leadership debate. The police, meanwhile, reported that there was no evidence that anyone — on the left or the right — had broken into her house. Never mind. It made for a good fundraising email.

It goes on and on. Tune into Fox News and all you’ll hear is how the big, bad, mainstream media outlets are treating their sort unkindly by insisting on attention to detail and the occasional truthful report. It’s so unfair, they squeal. Why doesn’t the New York Times report on Bill Clinton’s history of infidelity? Or give equal billing to the 3 per cent of scientists who believe climate change is a hoax?

Trump. Hannity. Coulter. Leitch. These people spend gigantic portions of their time playing the suck, manufacturing and exaggerating the slightest possible offence. Always for attention — and usually for money. It’s not just a shared personality flaw. It’s a strategy. It’s an invested, conscious approach to politics.

The question stands: Is it a winner? Brexit triumphed. Trump is president. That’s enough to guarantee that Crybaby Conservatism will be repeated and refined for years to come by those on the right. But it’s not yet clear that it’s a sustainable path to victory.

One of its chief deficiencies is that people like strong leaders. Ronald Reagan was no whiner. Margaret Thatcher didn’t beg for pity. It’s hard to imagine either of them texting the world to bawl that their critics were being “not nice.”

Which takes us back to this strategy’s most high-profile practitioner. Trump is utterly self-absorbed and it’s not obvious that he doesn’t believe his own batch of bull. How long before he wears out this whole victim routine? Everyone loves the underdog. But when that dog is a mewling, neutered hound, it starts to grate on everyone’s nerves.

But all that remains to be seen. At this particular point in time, what seems certain is that Crybaby Conservatism is the most identifiable and powerful trend in right-wing politics. Perhaps in all of politics. It’s enough to bring you to tears.

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