Look, I know some of you are going to read the first paragraph or two of this article, decide it’s just a regurgitation of other shit I’ve written before, and exit out. I humbly beg you tp read through, because current events have cast a new perspective on something I’ve written on previously.
As it stands today, the GOP is gearing up for an existential civil war, which may well open such a deep rift that the party can never recover from it either way. Moderate GOP forces have finally determined that Traitor Tot was a one-trick-pony that got lucky. They want to purge the GOP of Trump’s influence and move forward, and I wish them Godspeed. But the Trump friendly forces in the House and Senate are not going to go down without one hellacious fight.
But did the national GOP really have to reach this point? Did it actually have to take a pompous, overstuffed, charismatic charlatan like Traitor Tot to drive the GOP to its knees to the point that a civil war was unavoidable? My simple one word answer is no.
A quick history lesson. Back in 2012, the sitting President Barack Obama handed GOP former MA Governor Mitt Romney his ass on a silver platter. This was a particularly bitter loss for the GOP, especially Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who swore an oath to make Obama a 1 term President. In the days after the defeat, there was widespread talk of the GOP spending a long time wandering in the wilderness.
One man who didn’t believe that was the then RNC Chair, Reince Priebus. He authorized an Autopsy Report for the 2012 election, and unlike most reports, he didn’t want any self serving bullshit that blamed outside influences for the defeat. He wanted an honest report on what the RNC needed to do to reclaim their former glory.
And he got it, in spades. In no uncertain the report, which was only about 48 pages long, laid out the Republican shortcomings in direct and brutal detail. I’ve read it and found it almost a prophecy for the GOP’s salvation back to relevance again.
It reported that the current GOP had a rigid ideology based on racist and overtly far right Christian ideals that was choking the party off from attracting new members. Which was a problem, since the party’s base was basically older white voters. The actuarial tables indicated that the GOP would lose these older voters, with few new members coming in.
The report set forth an aggressive plan to restore the party to its former glory. The report stated that the GOP should immediately begin to gently purge itself of the far right racist elements of the party, as well as the far right Evangelical wing of the party. This was bitter wormwood to the GOP tongue. They continued to say that the national GOP had to shed itself of the far right ideology, return to traditional conservative principles, and make the party more inclusive to minorities and alternative lifestyle members. The report pulled no punches. It predicted that it would take about 10 years to revamp the dying GOP back into a nationally viable party.
The report estimated that it would take around 10 years for the transformation to be completed. Meaning that the GOP would basically forego 2 Presidential cycles, as well as 2 midterm cycles to become nationally competitive again. But if the GOP swallowed the pill, by 2024 they would be a younger, more vibrant, more diverse conservative party, ready to compete evenly on the national stage.
To his credit, Chairman Priebus loved the idea, and took it to the board for approval. He personally wanted to start the great reclamation project immediately. He clearly saw this as the path forward into the future for the GOP, which had become old and stale. The RNC board shot him down like the Red baron. They decided to make one last run with their desiccated base in 2016 before embarking on the reclamation project. Priebus was ousted shortly after. Which led to the national embarrassment that was Donald Trump. The RNC got their short term wish, at the expense of the country.
This is my point. Looking at it historically, Reince Priebus was right in 2013. And if the goddamn dipshits on the RNC board had agreed with, and started the great revival of the GOP, we would have been spared the debacle of the Trump presidency, and the weakening of our democracy. The GOP would have lost in 2016, and 2018, and 2020, and likely in 2022, but if the reclamation had gone according to plan, the GOP would be sailing into 2024 with a vibrant, renewed, competitive party, rather than the miserable shitshow they’re facing right now. Damn them all to hell.
This is what happens all too often with decaying institutions, Murf. The powers-that-be don’t want to face reality but reality has the final say regardless. Pre-revolutionary Russia, post-WWII Britain or even K-Mart…when the rot goes this deep in the upper echelons, collapse is the inevitable result.
Right, only you left out present-day Russia, Trump’s ideal. Birds of a feather flock together.
Well, it’s a fairly decent write-up, Murf, except it leaves out Priebus’s own part in Trump’s election. Priebus attacked the “Never Trumpers” movement; Priebus was more interested in “party unity” rather than his own plan for expanding the Party’s appeal. He made a few notable criticisms of some of Trump’s statements but, in the end, he wasn’t “ousted” from the Party’s leadership spot; he announced he wasn’t going to run for the Leadership role not long after he was named to be Trump’s Chief of Staff.
Priebus sold out his own blueprint in order to help Trump.
“Priebus sold out his own blueprint in order to help Trump.” Of course. Ethical Egoists make their moral decisions based upon what benefits THEM. Not “us”, ME.
There are so few moderate republicans, I can only think of two–Murkowski and occasionally Collins, that any civil war would have to be between magats and never trumpers. The moderates of the republican party have over the years exited. I’m always surprised Murkowski still calls herself a republican. Collins? Not so much and even less so after she helped nominate beer bong to the s.c.
The republican party has gotten so extreme, so reactionary, we’re now calling pols like Cheney and Romney moderate. They aren’t except in comparison to the current party.
I’m not saying there won’t be a split in the party tho’ although it’s always been about power for decades with the republicans so it might not be the cataclysmic rift you’re expecting.
Disagree, Spike…you said yourself that it’s about power with this crowd. 20 years of watching their outsized ambitions shrink that power always breaks any soldarity these types claimed to have for each other. No central leader they can all agree on = the kind of disarray usually attributed to Dems.
hmmm. Yeah, you might be right. We’ll know in 2024. lol
The same “thought” process followed by corporate CEOs.
Worry about the next quarter, cash the bonus check, and if the company tanks, get out before the free-fall and move on to screw up the next company.