The New York Times says that it’s probably not possible for the GOP to replace Trump as the nominee unless he resigns, dies or becomes incapacitated. And I don’t think he’s going to resign. He’s still got evangelicals, and he’s still got the mega-donors.
Elsewhere, though, it’s every Republican for her- or himself. I predict the RNC will leave Trump to his own devices and focus on congressional and state races. The Media Narrative at this point is that Trump may still be standing, but his campaign is toast. And then this ridiculous campaign season will finally lurch to its end.
The exodus of top republicans who had endorsed and today have withdrawn support marks this as a crisis – not an incident. Women in the GOP who supported Trump are jumping ship – in droves.
I’ve been wrong before, but I wonder if Utah may be in play in a month – previous articles about Mormons (Like Mitt) indicate that Trump’s arrogance and playboy style does not sit well with them. The Governor of Utah pulled his support today as did Jason Chavetz, the the ultra-conservative ass who presided over the House Oversight Committee hearing on my flight. If over the next 4 Sundays the Mormon Church organizes an anti-Trump protest, it will put pressure on even the Southern Evangelicals. In Georgia, Trump has a 5-point lead, but will this be too much?
My hope is that the loss will turn into a full-scale rout – I want the GOP next year to throw off the Trumpian racist fringe and the Evangelical lunatic fringe and re-form as a pragmatic conservative movement which has to respect women’s rights and minority rights to build a new coalition that Independents might support. To avoid extinction. I think a conservative faction is healthy, because democrats are capable of incredible stupidity and corruption without the counterbalance of intelligent principled opposition.
The era of obstruction would end – we would see discussion and compromise. I’m old enough to remember and long for a political climate such as that. We’re going to have conservatives in this country – I’d like them to clean their own house and enable their own leaders capable of critical thinking, capable of recognizing and respecting facts working for the future of the country and the world.
YOU can remember ” conseratives with critical thinking, capable of recognizing and respecting facts”…Jesus H Christ …which century and which country was THAT in?
What did they call these “conservitives”?
And just how old are you??????
Why is the DNC not drawing parallels between Trump and most any “conservative”? Force the bastard Republicans to justify their positions on an individual and very public basis, every time. Kill shot this hypocritical party masquerading as sane conservatives.
Ah yes, how will the Mormon card be played. At present they seem to control two states and about five percent of the US Senate. Social conservatism and control of the family values agenda they share (kind of) with evangelicals. Neither has any problem mixing church and state. I see no way that the evangelicals get their way with a candidate that subscribes to the tickle down theory of social behavior, especially with other people’s wives. Some evangelicals will split. Mormons are solid and somewhat less hypocritical about their family values. Â
Good to have your perspective back Doug.
I’m with you, Doug. I can remember the same things you do, and have wished for years for the Republicans to reform and regroup, so that our government can perform as designed.
I don’t blame younger people for being skeptical about the prior existence of rational conservatives. Sometimes, I find it hard to accept the memory as anything other than a trick of the mind. But there was a time before the current battle lines were drawn, and it is possible to get a sense of how this grim architecture came together.
There was a time before the “Powell Memorandum†which was a call to arms for the corporate world, together with a plan that would eventually bring us think tanks, Fox news, Citizens United the the other contents of Pandora’s box. There was a time when the Southern Baptist Convention supported a women’s right to have an abortion, a time before the issue became a political tool. There was a time when being a member of the Christian faith didn’t involve ascribing to a political agenda that would have Jesus throwing over the tables in a rage. The list goes on and on.
The arts of public relations and propaganda can shape us in ways that we are not aware. Judging by its products, it has the ability to short circuit the brain and condition our responses to a set that is normally predictable and manageable. It exploits the glitch in our mind that makes fear and hatred more powerful motivators than harmony and reason, and that is where the plan went awry. The cattle have broken down the fence, and they are no longer capable of calming themselves. But, just because they are in a stampede now, doesn’t mean that they were always in that state.


We are narcissistic creatures, but ironically, we avoid of self-reflection when it demands self-analysis and change. The results can be comical in particular, and a very dark comedy in the aggregate. It’s possible that some conservatives will see the error of their ways, but, in general, it is not likely. Habits of mind are very difficult to break. You can almost envision them as a flow chart. Look at Trump’s “apology,†he branched to the “blame Clinton†side. You can see some other possibilities, including announcing that the disgusting behavior occurred “before he was born again.†That usually works rather well. In a flow chart things can remain moving, but, they are contained within boundaries. That can be an advantage in some applications, but, it is hardly a way to live, and the subroutine known as “conspiracy theory†can have the mind traveling in some very small circles.
That’s where I see this ending up, with the conspiracy theory that Trump was a shill for the wicked HRC. He sought the nomination, won it and sabotaged his own campaign in order to make Hillary the president. It sounds crazy, because it IS crazy. But, it’s already “out there,†and a lot of people will find it more comforting than having to rethink their politics. If this happens, Doug and the rest of us who are old enough to remember pre-rabid conservatives might find it even more difficult to the skeptics, and maybe even ourselves, as well.
Sorry guys, I do tend to go on too long.
goatherd — you are welcome to go on as long as you like. 🙂
The same for me, Goatherd!
The John Birch Society was taken down by William F Buckley Jr. McCarty was brought down by his fellow republicans who repudiated him for his dishonesty and his tactics. The denial of science and facts is very recent and will not endure, if the human race does endure. I do not propose that conservatives will become liberal in philosophy, but they can function as decent representatives of (from my POV) the opposition.
There was a ceremony for Ted Kennedy after his death – the Kennedy family asked John McCain and Orin Hatch to speak about their friend and political adversary. They didn’t gain any points with their base by speaking kindly of a leading democrat but they both did speak, sincerely I think, about how gentlemen in government can disagree and work together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvYX28kzc5U
It starts with not demonizing your opponent. Occasionally, your opponent IS a demon – and Trump has exposed his true self to the degree that republicans who despise Clinton still can’t support Trump – there is some honor in this. George Will quit the GOP after Trump won the primaries. Others waited until this weekend. But can we agree that decency and objective truth matter? And build on that?
“I want the GOP next year to throw off the Trumpian racist fringe and the Evangelical lunatic fringe and re-form as a pragmatic conservative movement which has to respect women’s rights and minority rights to build a new coalition that Independents might support.”
If GOP leadership are able to acknowledge and take to heart the lesson in this disaster of an election, that could happen. But the Trumpian racist and evangelical fringes has been in existence for some time now, created and nurtured by the very same people in the GOP who are wringing their hands and clutching their pearls now over Trump. Racism as a divide and conquer tactic has served them well since 1968, but as dog whistles. “Making America Great Again” in part meant making society safe for those who would spew their racist views publicly and openly and not be ostracized for it. Trump has made this “political correctness” an under girding tenet of his racist campaign and this is why, there isn’t anything Trump can do that will sway them from supporting him. That tape means nothing to them.
The problem for the GOP leadership is they don’t get to pick their nominees, the voters do, and these are the voters whose “minds” they have twisted on a steady diet of hatred, racism, fear and ignorance. Common sense and decency is not going to be a way forward after losing an election for these people. That was the case in 2010, and they are even more rabid in their views today.
Trump has already declared war against GOP leaders who have come out against him, and once this election is over, I can see him organizing his “deplorables” into a third party beholden only to him to “show them” and sate his perceived harm to his childlike sensibilities after losing. This group, along with some form of “Trump TV” will be used like a cudgel on the American political system, if to do nothing else but serve as a cheering section for The Donald and to wreak havoc on the political system.
The “evidence” for this dire scenario, versus the coming together of “pragmatic” conservatives and democrats is the fact that the vast majority of those who were very public in coming out against Trump have been vociferous in their expressions of disdain for Clinton. As politicians go, Clinton has her flaws, but no one in their right mind can honestly say that Clinton poses a similar danger to the Presidency as Trump does.
As long as this fever grips even the “sane” republicans, I doubt we’ll see any sanity in our political system any time soon.