The Steve Bannon Void Might Doom Populism In 2018 Campaign
Trump allies say the president is — and always has been — the leader of his own movement. But that doesn't mean conservative populists have a champion this year.
Previous presidents tended to have a public-facing political strategist and confidante: George W. Bush had Karl Rove, Barack Obama had David Axelrod.
And, for a time, Steve Bannon might have filled that role for President Trump.
But with Bannon estranged from the president, Donald Trump is entering a midterm campaign — which tend to be politically perilous for a new president — without such a nationally-recognized proxy, who instinctively understands his base and has put in the time on the campaign trail with him. It's also a Bannon-shaped void in the conservative populist movement.
"Right now it's just the president. Steve Bannon was emerging as the guy who you
