They both represent a recessive but always present gene in the American tradition, an instinct that comes as close to fascism as the American atmosphere will allow. It was Huey Long, the genius, who anticipated the hack, Pat Buchanan, when he predicted that, if fascism ever came to these shores, it would be called Americanism. The breed is endemic to the American political tradition. These types sweep through like prairie fires and burn out the same way, depending on wind conditions, leaving nothing behind but a little burned-over territory. And they remain endemic to the American political tradition, the way hookworm and pellagra used to be to these latitudes.
Populist leaders can be dynamic, even febrile.
And even for rhetoric if you like it grating and a little offensive. But it is not a talent for anything positive, uniting, redeeming, all-American. It is even possible to disagree without being disagreeable. It is possible, in short, for conservatism to have a human face. This presidential candidate claims to be a conservative while eroding the civil discourse that is at the core of conservatism.