What happens to the Republican Party now? (4 Viewers)

[MT15]

This election nonsense by Trump may end up splitting up the Republican Party. I just don’t see how the one third (?) who are principled conservatives can stay in the same party with Trump sycophants who are willing to sign onto the TX Supreme Court case.

We also saw the alt right types chanting “destroy the GOP” in Washington today because they didn’t keep Trump in power. I think the Q types will also hold the same ill will toward the traditional Republican Party. In fact its quite possible that all the voters who are really in a Trump personality cult will also blame the GOP for his loss. It’s only a matter of time IMO before Trump himself gets around to blaming the GOP.

There is some discussion of this on Twitter. What do you all think?

 

[zztop]

I would have to say, whatever few ACTUAL republicans are left in the party, they will be forced out. And people who still voted for them, I guess, would vote 3rd party in elections. I can't see many real republican, who stuck around this long (and still supported and voted (R), would go into a booth and vote for a (D). Even if they are fed up with Trump and his lackeys.. so they'll probably start feeling like many minorities (ironically) disenfranchised in a sort of way.

 

[Taurus]

But how much longer will normal, intelligent people who are conditioned to vote R put up with the crazy and the racism of the modern Republican Party?

We had roving bands of Proud Boys committing street violence and vandalism last night in multiple cities in support of Trump. They vandalized black churches and burned BLM banners.

We had a sitting R Senator yesterday proudly pose for a selfie with a known former KKK white supremacist who beat a black man nearly to death.

Alex Jones yesterday threatened Joe Biden pretty explicitly, saying he would be removed from office “one way or another”.

The My Pillow guy accused Fox of “rigging the election”.

We haven’t even touched on the Q stuff yet, which is moving mainstream now for Republicans.

Normal conservatives have to be appalled and turned off by this stuff.

Depends on if they even know about it. And you gotta remember that racism doesn't affect them. It's totally not a needle-mover.
So when we talk about the crazy, way off the reservation BS, we have to exclude racist statements and acts. Which leaves us a smaller pool of reasons to quit the GOP.

 

[MT15]

Here’s another one. We have had at least three representatives leave the Sedition Party over the years. Justin Amash, Joe Walsh and now this one. I read he was in GOP leadership. I’m probably forgetting someone.

 

[MT15]

Evan McMullin wrote an op-ed about this topic.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[insidejob]

I also heard that Parler started doing something similar to Twitter in fact checking posts. I haven't been on Parler since the day I created my account so I'm really not sure if that's true. If it is, I wonder how long the platform will last since being able to openly lie is what made them an attractive platform to their users in the first place.

 

[JRad]

I also heard that Parler started doing something similar to Twitter in fact checking posts. I haven't been on Parler since the day I created my account so I'm really not sure if that's true. If it is, I wonder how long the platform will last since being able to openly lie is what made them an attractive platform to their users in the first place.

Are they fact checking posts, or alternative fact checking posts?

 

[insidejob]

Are they fact checking posts, or alternative fact checking posts?

IDK but it's really kind of pathetic how so many of their personalities like Dan Bongino and Dinesh D'Souza use twitter as their platform to tell everyone how bad it is in comparison to and how everyone should head on over to Parler where their free speech is really free. Once Trump has his account suspended on 1/20/2021, I cannot wait to see the inevitable meltdown that's sure to occur on twitter with all of his followers (I love that Obama has so many more followers than he does - you know that has to really chap his arse) making posts @jack to threaten him about leaving twitter because freedom of speech. I don't know what's going to be better: Biden's actual inauguration or Trump's meltdown.

 

[MT15]

Bill Kristol is musing about this topic

 

[Taurus]

Bill Kristol is musing about this topic

Bill's smart enough to realize the GOP won't change so long as they keep winning.

The "sane Republican" faction doesn't need to split off or really do anything but vote Democrat a couple times. That's all it'll take. Just two or three big losses and the mainstream GOP will be theirs again.

But so long as they merely complain and don't actually do anything, nothing will change. The Republican party will get crazier and crazier with no end and no bottom.

 

[MT15]

Yes, I think that idea of Bill’s to just vote as centrist Democrats for a while is the best one. Trump is pretty old, thankfully, and I hope that nobody younger will have the same hold on people that he has. I don’t see any of his kids coming close to having what he has. I hate to call it charisma, but he does have something.

Steve Schmidt of the Lincoln Party group announced he will be officially changing his party affiliation to Democrat yesterday or the day before.

 

[efil4]

just said on another thread, there will 2-3 factions within the GOP all vying for control of the message to its constituents. There is going to be so much self-preservation going on in 2021 into 2022, that the GOP will become irrelevant in the next midterms.

 

[TaylorB]

This election nonsense by Trump may end up splitting up the Republican Party. I just don’t see how the one third (?) who are principled conservatives can stay in the same party with Trump sycophants who are willing to sign onto the TX Supreme Court case.

We also saw the alt right types chanting “destroy the GOP” in Washington today because they didn’t keep Trump in power. I think the Q types will also hold the same ill will toward the traditional Republican Party. In fact its quite possible that all the voters who are really in a Trump personality cult will also blame the GOP for his loss. It’s only a matter of time IMO before Trump himself gets around to blaming the GOP.

There is some discussion of this on Twitter. What do you all think?

Practically, the most likely indicator of whether Trumpism will ruin the GOP is whether it's ultimately in Trump's self-interest to do so. Right now, the GOP fracture feels imminent because Trump is leveraging his power in the GA run-offs to get the GOP to bend to his will. I see this situation as more of a transactional moment in which Trump is using all the leverage he has, as opposed to some more permanent divergence between Trump and the GOP.

The permanent situation is much more difficult to predict. I could easily see some symbiotic relationship for a period of time: for example, the GOP continues to court the fringe, while Trump starts some pro-GOP grift like "Trump TV" that keeps the fringe engaged, with mutually assured destruction underlying the relationship. It's certainly also possible one of the groups (GOP + Trump) decides it doesn't need the other, which leads to the split you speak of. A lot of this will depend on Trump's legal situation which looks like it will be... fluid.

I've been awful at trying to predict anything with Trumpism. I do think he will retain a great deal of influence going forward, and it has to give the GOP heartburn to know he does not care about any of their policies and/or have any party loyalty whatsoever. It would be poetic justice if he ended up being the catalyst for the party's destruction. I'll believe it if/when I see it... and will be there to watch every minute of it if it happens.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Yes, I think that idea of Bill’s to just vote as centrist Democrats for a while is the best one. Trump is pretty old, thankfully, and I hope that nobody younger will have the same hold on people that he has. I don’t see any of his kids coming close to having what he has. I hate to call it charisma, but he does have something.

Steve Schmidt of the Lincoln Party group announced he will be officially changing his party affiliation to Democrat yesterday or the day before.

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[Lapaz]

My father is a life-long Republican. He also has two degrees from Duke University and I have always considered him highly intelligent. I know he voted for Trump in 2016. I know he was very disapproving of most of the way Trump handled the presidency. I know he thinks Trump is a narcissistic buffoon. I don't know if he voted for Trump in 2020, my suspicion is no.

But I texted him last night and said "In 2016, the GOP married Trump and pretty much ceded educated people to the Democrats. It was a strategy they seemed comfortable with. Now they're ceding 'sane people'? Do you really think this is a winning strategy? The party is now led by people in full delusion. Lindsay Graham and Jeb Bush said in 2016 that Trump would destroy the Republican Party. They were obviously right."

No reply.

It was theorized that Trump was always intended to destroy the GOP. He was never a conservative, so the marriage was always doomed for divorce.

 

[J-DONK]

If Trump announces his 2024 campaign, which I assume he will for the donations. I don't see much changing in the Republican party. He will need to not be convicted by 2024, but barring that I don't see that many changes. The biggest change will be Trump moving Republicans away from Fox News to whatever news network he has a stake in. This is the most likely scenario simply because it's the most profitable for Trump.

 

[Taurus]

If Trump announces his 2024 campaign, which I assume he will for the donations. I don't see much changing in the Republican party. He will need to not be convicted by 2024, but barring that I don't see that many changes. The biggest change will be Trump moving Republicans away from Fox News to whatever news network he has a stake in. This is the most likely scenario simply because it's the most profitable for Trump.

Trump vs Murdoch.

That's a fight I'd pay to see.

 

[MT15]

The former chairwoman of the NH Republican Party, Jennifer Horn, has announced she is leaving the Republican party as well. Specifically over the anti-democracy and un-American lies being told by members of the Party about election fraud, although she has opposed Trump from the beginning based on her conservative principles.

This is from the Op-Ed linked below from another member of the Lincoln Project:

“Trump’s allies and abettors, including more than 100 lawmakers and 18 Republican state attorneys general, tried to poison our political system in the service of a personality cult. Theirs is a veneration driven not by high ideals but by fear, resentment and a transparent desire to maintain power for its own sake.”