Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Whither the GOP?

Trump has, essentially, declared war on the Republican party. Ryan and his allies are trying to save some semblance of organization post-election. Trump's candidacy brought out in the open an uncomfortable reality that a significant portion of their base really are deplorables. I see, in this election, a potential bloodbath. Trump supporters expressing their ire by not voting for down-ballot candidates; loyal Republicans not voting for Trump, but still doing straight-party ballots otherwise; a depressed turnout, and dispirited support in the future. How do you all see this proceeding post-election?

Democrats stand to benefit from Trump's actions - which is why Matt Drudge and Julian Assange and Russian hackers are trying to make Hillary look bad.

I'm telling you, ever since Sunday's debate, I feel sorry for Hillary with all of this piling on, and it is making me want to root for her rise to President now.

Maybe that should be "Wither the GOP!"

I see that as real potential which can only help the Democrats. Plus, Ryan's most recent actions just exposes how craven he and his allies are and could very well depress the loyal Republican turnout as well.

I am also afraid of the collateral damage, and all of this suppressing the overall turnout and making this a closer race than it should be.

And no matter what happens all three sides will be blaming the other(s) so there will be no co-operation for the foreseeable future.

I'm not sure if the GOP is capable of a "come-to-Jesus" moment, since they did an "autopsy" of the 2012 election, and essentially ignored all the recommendations.

a bit of an unfair characterization

i see the party as a 3-d pie made up of overlapping, but distinct, slices. i suspect the "rational" players read it and determined it was valid. the problem is the huge slices of the party which are driven by Bannon etal and radio talk show hosts, who all rejected the autopsy and whom we now see as Trump supporters. these folks do not care whether it is a 2012 or 2016 autopsy.

leads me to suspect but now necessarily conclude the party will break up, and the more moderate members will drift to the democrat party.

Or they come to their senses after a blowout election and they find an actual decent social conservative with moderate economic ideas to run in 2020. He probably won't win (unless Hillary is a total disaster of a President), but at least he could form a recognizable Republican Party. But they will need to escort most of the deplorables out of the Big Tent for that to happen. I'm not sure exactly how you do that, but quite a few would self-deport to a Trump/Tea Party. Maybe the GOP can help them form, and then go their separate ways? They would be giving up any chance at a winning coalition for the Presidency, but at least they would be proud to be called Republicans again. Maybe it's better not to lie down with dogs?

As for Hillary being a disaster, I doubt that will happen. She is at least as competent as Obama was in 2008. (That's why I voted for her.) If she has the Congress it looks like she will get, we have a chance to get all sorts of things fixed, including all the gerrymandering that keeps Republicans in the House.

Have you noticed that Hillary (and most politicians both R and D) has supporters and Donald has followers?

the problem i believe is they are idiot-ologically driven and thus can not opt for reasonable economic theories in lieu of base principles.

smaller government
supply-side economics
balanced budget
lower taxes
not to mention the sociological issues
etc

none of these ideas move a country forward

remove the shackles of intractable principles and they may have a chance


Sec Clinton is a journeyman politician, knowledgeable and competent ... the only thing preventing a reasonable presidency of adequate outcomes would be global events for which any decision would result in failure

As far as a “savior” of the GOP--what about this guy?

Link

The Southern Strategy was probably the biggest mistake the GOP ever made. They rounded up all the deplorables, who used to lurk in the Democratic Party, and welcomed them into the party of Eisenhower and William F. Buckley. Things went south for them not long after.

But where are they headed after this election? Let's look at the Five Stages of Grief/Loss.
1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance

They will first deny that they lost. Trump has already set them up to believe the vote is rigged and the election will be stolen from them.

Then they will be angry. Very angry. Very very angry. Voters will be angry at the Republican party for not fully supporting their candidate. Party leaders will be(rightfully) angry at the voters for choosing such a lousy candidate to begin with. Mitch McConnell will be really angry that he's going to lose that cushy office and have to turn over the gavel to Chuck Schumer. Paul Ryan will be booted from his Speaker position by the Freedom Caucus and move back to his old office. Whoever takes over will be in a much weaker position since Democrats will pick up a few seats. Everyone will be angry at everyone else.

Bargaining? Not gonna happen. Republicans don't deal and they don't compromise. All those "great deals" Trump was gonna make? The weren't ever deals, they were demands. Because that's the way they roll.

Depression. Gloom despair and agony. Deep dark depression excesive misery. How could this happen? We had it in the bag. Who cares whether he grabs women by the pussy what's important is that he was gonna make America great again. Right wing heads will explode.
Suicides among Trump supporters will rise.

Acceptance... Eventually they will come to accept that Donald Trump wasn't a True Conservative. Or a True Christian. And they will accept that next time they need to run a True Conservative Christian. They will double down on everything Trump stood for and try to do it all over again in four years.