Rebuilding The Republican Party On The Ash Heap Of Trumpism
Old line Republican moderates and true conservatives — as they currently work to defeat President Trump’s reelection under such umbrella groups as the Lincoln Project spearheaded by the likes of former Republican Party notables Steve Schmidt, Susan Del Percio, Rick Wilson, George Conway and former RNC chairman Michael Steele — are not only making devastating campaign ads against Trump, they and many other colleagues are making soft noises about rebuilding the Grand Old Party after Trump’s defeat. To say that this is going to be a problematic undertaking is a gross understatement. Yet the health of the nations’ democracy demands that there be at least two major viable political parties, bodies that hold the country’s best interest at heart — above that of merely raw power. Yes, that may be asking too much, but whatever we’ve got now in the American politisphere it is clearly not working.
The first thing these old line Republican patriots absolutely must do is admit to themselves that for many years they turned a death ear as forces within their party dog whistled America’s underbelly of racists and scoundrels in ways meant to bring them to their cause, while at once working hand in glove with extremist right wing media organs all the way to the point where the party became a heaven for the Klan and ragtag militia groups that the FBI has labeled domestic terrorists.
As the GOP went about its transitioning into the White Man’s racist Party, Trump bided his time playing at Obama birtherism nonsense until he felt that the situation was ripe for a party takeover. He then pounced with tweets a blazing. Now Trump and the GOP base are one and the same. So this begs the question, where in the world is a new GOP (or whatever it may be called) going to find itself a base of serious men and women of goodwill, members from among America’s better angels class, folks that believe in old fashion conservative values and positive agendas, a substantive following that will back their creation.
These true conservatives might try returning as mainly an upper class business party, but if America remains something of a functioning democracy, as was the case before when the party felt compelled to go bottom fishing in order to expand its base, the number of supporters will likely remain way too small to function as a viable political entity.
However, these new-old Republicans would be wise to consult with the Democrats as they move toward reconstituting their traditionalist party, because Trumpism is not going away, at least not as long as there is Rupert Murdock’s (Fox News and associates) right wing media empire and the Donald, or whomever inherits his depraved political mantle for it to rally around.
This means, my friends, that if the old line Republicans end up creating what amounts to a rump third political party capable of syphoning off, say, 20 percent of Democratic votes and Trumpism continues to thrive as it likely will, and it manages to control some thirty-five percent or better part of the electorate — the nation’s misfits — such a third party could end up throwing the nation back into the hands of the conspiracy freaks. Wow! What a mess it is going to be going forward for conservatives and our nation’s experiment in democracy.
