Before Donald Trump’s ride down a golden escalator upended the Republican Party, Tom Cotton was the future of the GOP. In many ways, he still is.
Back in 2015, the thirtysomething Army veteran was the one to watch in his freshman Senate class. He was dubbed an up-and-coming “influence” in his party, “a conservative superstar.”
Today, the Republican Party is almost unrecognizable. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah is a political pariah. The Reagan Doctrine sits in the dustbin of history in favor of so-called “America First” sensibilities. The once anti-establishment agitators are now the party’s mainstream.