Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Most of us recall the absolute lunacy that took hold of the right with Obama. In fact, you could argue that his presidency single handily reduced them to what they are today. From birthers, tea party ignorance, Palin, Bachmann, O'Donnell, countless Muslim conspiracies, and the block everything approach to government, the party literally dismantled. Trump capitalized on their hate speech, stopped using coded language, and took over the party by feeding the rabid base. Now, he is the nominee, a shining example of unchecked racism, cluelessness, and unbridled contempt for intellectualism.
Trump is tanking in the general election. He is already floating the rigged meme and attempting to lie about NFL letters to avoid the debates. His already uninformed and angry base who touted him as the great champion for decimating other republicans in the primary see him losing by wide margins in the general. As a result, they resort to wacky conspiracies, just like birthers, to try and turn it around; however, what happens when it doesn't work? When they are faced with the general population rejecting their views for the third time after putting a candidate who they claimed "told it like they see it", where does all that racism and hatred get directed?
Will we see a split of the party: sane versus insane? Will they just return home and fall in line behind the next republican candidates? Will they realize the country doesn't share their views and start to pivot to be more inclusive?
Most of us recall the absolute lunacy that took hold of the right with Obama. In fact, you could argue that his presidency single handily reduced them to what they are today. From birthers, tea party ignorance, Palin, Bachmann, O'Donnell, countless Muslim conspiracies, and the block everything approach to government, the party literally dismantled. Trump capitalized on their hate speech, stopped using coded language, and took over the party by feeding the rabid base. Now, he is the nominee, a shining example of unchecked racism, cluelessness, and unbridled contempt for intellectualism.
Trump is tanking in the general election. He is already floating the rigged meme and attempting to lie about NFL letters to avoid the debates. His already uninformed and angry base who touted him as the great champion for decimating other republicans in the primary see him losing by wide margins in the general. As a result, they resort to wacky conspiracies, just like birthers, to try and turn it around; however, what happens when it doesn't work? When they are faced with the general population rejecting their views for the third time after putting a candidate who they claimed "told it like they see it"? Where does all that racism and hatred get directed?
Will we see a split of the party: sane versus insane? Will they just return home and fall in line behind the next republican candidates? Will they realize the country doesn't share their views and start to pivot to be more inclusive?
The GOP has been courting the fringe since Obama was elected. Now that fringe defines their party. They were so intent to seeing that Obama wouldn't succeed, that they've been the least productive in recent history. People paid attention. Now the party leaders have the unmitigated gall to act surprised that Trump won the nomination. They asked for this, and they got it.
Trump has been talking about the rigged system the entire time.
Both parties tried to steal the primary from the anti-establishment candidates, it would be illogical to think both parties won't try to steal the general election.
The GOP's biggest problem is that the alt-right fringe has infiltrated their base. It's no longer just the lunatic fringe; it's a dominant force in the primaries.
The GOP's biggest problem is that the alt-right fringe has infiltrated their base. It's no longer the lunatic fringe; it's a dominant force in the primaries.
I agree, but what happens now? Can they go back to walking that fine line of coded language and just enough crazy conspiracy to keep the base, or do you see a split? You hear them already labeling leaders like Romney as RINO's. They have no qualms about putting them out. Once the ship has sailed, will they be able to get back on board? If so, how about people like Ryan who begrudgingly endorse Trump knowing he isn't right for the country. Where does he return?
I agree, but what happens now? Can they go back to walking that fine line of coded language and just enough crazy conspiracy to keep the base, or do you see a split? You hear them already labeling leaders like Romney as RINO's. They have no qualms about putting them out. Once the ship has sailed, will they be able to get back on board? If so, how about people like Ryan who begrudgingly endorse Trump knowing he isn't right for the country. Where does he return?
Conservative Republicans who view the GOP as failing miserably when it comes to taxes and spending may be giving the Libertarians a good once over these days.
I doubt many will vote for Gary Johnson (former New Mexico governor and Libertarian presidential candidate) this time around. The stakes are too high and this woulc turn into a Nader-like spoiler.
But I imagine we will soon be reading about how former Republican conservatives are finding a home in the Libertarian tent.
Trump is now the leader of the GOP. The message will not die with his loss, but will continue in a more refined candidate in 2020. Maybe one of his sons.
I agree, but what happens now? Can they go back to walking that fine line of coded language and just enough crazy conspiracy to keep the base, or do you see a split? You hear them already labeling leaders like Romney as RINO's. They have no qualms about putting them out. Once the ship has sailed, will they be able to get back on board? If so, how about people like Ryan who begrudgingly endorse Trump knowing he isn't right for the country. Where does he return?
The party already knows what they have to do. They laid it all out in their postmortem report following Romney's loss. But instead of moving ahead with their more inclusive strategy, they once again allowed the crazies who want no part of anyone who isn't a white Christian to control the narrative. These nuts have already driven out all of the sane old-school Republicans from their own party--most of them are calling themselves Independents these days, but they're really just displaced Republicans--and I don't see them returning until the party does a purge and rids itself of the Tea Party bigots and racists.
Perhaps they should abandon the Republican party altogether. Leave it to the nuts and form a new party. After Trump, they may not want to be associated with the Republican name anymore anyway. Going forward the Republican Party will be known as the Party of Trump, and no self-respecting Republican will want to be linked to that.
The bigger problem is that the ridiculousness of the right, now gives the left a blank check on their own brand of ridiculousness that is going to be a disaster for us all.
Voters are conditioned to think that if one party is wrong (in this case the Republicans) then the other must be so much better.
This election is the perfect example of how continually voting for "the lesser of 2 evils" is still a horrible choice and makes things worse over the long term
OP raises an important issue. Where do all of these angry people go and where do the remnants of the sane wing of the GOP go? It looks like people are burning bridges in the GOP and coming back together will be very hard. My crystal ball does not show a happy outcome.
The angry group will still be angry no matter who wins because Trump can't deliver anything that he promised. He can gain some time by running his mouth but eventually that won't work. And if he loses they will have Hillary as public enemy #1. I can't see them having a great amount of power in Congress after Trump. There would have to be some very strange alliances for that group to forge a party of its own without a leader. Trump's best option is to lose the election and then pander to this group for the next four years -- unless he loses interest. The GOP will want him to go away but he won't and will continue to incite anger. He enjoys it too much.
The sane wing -- the Bush, McCain and Romney bunch (I can't believe I'm saying this) -- will need to solidify into a neo-Republican party and repudiate the crazies if they want to be credible. They will probably have the money needed to rebuild. With some effort, the Trump endorser group (Paul Ryan, Governor Christie for example) might be able to fit in.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
