Politico does a piece on the fracturing of the Republican Party that IS occurring while the media focuses on ‘Donald Trump’s party’….
The Grand ole Party does have issues….
Not all Republicans are Trump Republicans…
When Jim Hendren, a longtime Arkansas state legislator, announced on Thursday that he was leaving the GOP, it marked the latest in a flurry of recent defections from the party.
Tens of thousands of Republicans across the country have changed their registrations in the weeks since the riot at the Capitol — many of them, like Hendren, becoming independents. Other former party officials are discussing forming a third party.
But if the Republicans’ reasons for leaving the GOP are obvious — primarily, disdain for former President Donald Trump and his stranglehold on the party — the sobering reality confronting them on the other side is that there’s really no place to go.
The Democratic Party, which continues to move leftward, isn’t a good ideological fit. Those who want to fight to recapture the GOP from within are vastly outnumbered. Building a third party from scratch requires gigantic sums of money and overcoming a thicket of daunting state laws designed in large part by the two major parties.
“Right now, everybody’s just trying to figure out how to coalesce what is a small fraction of the Republican Party — what do we do with it,” said former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. “And starting a third party is extremely difficult.”
Walsh said he and others who have left the GOP are “kind of in the wilderness.”
For a small but significant subset of the Republican Party, this is the affliction of the post-Trump GOP: Republicans who break with the former president are not only on their own, they are under attack from a base that remains steadfastly loyal to him.
“What I see in the Republican Party is the next four to eight years are going to be a civil war that is going to leave many people homeless,” said Hendren, who is the nephew of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson….
Interesting article.
The problem is neatly summed up by Joe Wash,In the opposition ( to Trump) “ We’re primarily talking about strategists and consultants and former Republicans ,conservative thinkers who are unhappy obviously with the Trump-y party…But there’s no grassroots .Until we develop some sort of constituency,I mean,real voters,it’s just going to be all of us meeting and writing papers and articles and that’s about it. “Still Walsh supports a third party ,conceding that would cause Democrats to win a lot of elections but concluding that people like him “ don’t have great options.”
Actually I don’t see much coming out of all this.These anti Trumpers are all mad now.However, as the months and years go by I think most of them will drift back into the Republican Party as,for the most part their differences are more personality driven ( Trump) than ideologica and that is really no basis for a new Party.
The FACT IS Trump IS Working to import his chaos on the party after being sent away from screwing with the government….
He does not look act in the best interests of Republicans…THAT IS beyond his abilities
You keep interjecting that irrelevancy into every conversation about the Republican Party
Trumps motives have nothing to do with anything.
The pure Fact is whatever his motivations,Republicans remain overwhelmingly in favor of him.
That’s the only point here.
You act as if anyone here is naive about Trump.No one is.We are not talking about his personal desires.We are talking about his effect upon the Republican Party and it’s future,yet every conversation you keep on repeating that he doesn’t care ,is only in it for himself ,etc etc.
So?
That simply is not germane as to the fact I alluded to above.
Republicans for the most part still support him and he remains the central figure in the Party.
Your Point Jack….
Not just mine….
Whatever that means?
Well whether you support Democracy is a major issue in my opinion. Whether we should be allied with Russia is a second major legit issue for example.
I would like to know what is it with Trump’s early effort to get in bed with Putin….
Maybe Garland will find out?
More ya to chew on Jack…
We Don’t Need a Functioning GOP
Jennifer Rubin: “Moreover, the pining for a sane Republican Party — a ‘center right’ party’ — makes sense only if one thinks such a party has a constituency and sufficient distance from the Democratic Party. Can you find a base for a party that, say, wants to spend a trillion dollars instead of $1.9 trillion on a covid-19 relief bill? Perhaps in a few states, but nationwide, it is unclear that there is a felt need for a Democratic-lite party, beyond rich donors.”
“It is no secret that modern conservatism, in large part a response to the Cold War, is ideologically spent.”
Actually Rubin is speaking to Republicans.
I’m the one that has been saying for awhile that “Conservatism is bunk.”
See Rubins last sentence.
Rubin is not a conservative though.
You know that legitimate conservatives exist who are not full of “bunk.”
And there is a need for a “sane” political option for them, i.e, people like me.
I don’t think you personally are “full of bunk” even though we disagree on many issues
What is your view as to the article that this comment section is under?
It’s under a paywall, so I cannot read much of it, but the premise seems to be that anti-Trump Republicans should just throw their hands up in the air and pronounce themselves Democrats (like Rubin and many others have already done) and I just do not think that is a good idea.
Really?I could read it.
Too bad you can’t.
Actually it was a good discussion about the anti Trumpers and where they go from here.No, it specifically rejected the idea that many would become Democrats.
The idea of a third party is bandied about ,but seems to not have a great deal of support except Joe Walsh.Theres a lot of discussion about forming some type of caucus within the Republican Party.
Something like this happened in the Democratic Party after Reagan’s election with the “Boll Weevils” formally known as the Conservative Democratic Forum in the House,although that was ideologically driven and later served as a gateway into the Republican Party for people like Phil Gramm.
Like most things in political history, this is going to develop organically. It could go in several different directions and there is really no way to tell what will happen to the Republican Party, both as it was known, and how it is now, from our perspective in Feb of 2021. Things can change quickly and for unexpected reasons.
We are likely to know more at the *end* of this year, and even more after the 2022 midterms, but the first real benchmark is not going to be until a Republican nominee is chosen in the summer of 2024 and what kind of “platform” that person will be running on.
The most obvious path for anti-Trump Republicans is to try to win or influence the Presidential nomination process as much as possible, but arrangements need to also be made in case that fails, for as viable of possible of a third party or Independent showing, again only if the major party alternative fails.
Those who are Independents or Democrats and who are concerned about “democracy” should realize that the health and viability of two major, mainstream parties are important, and when feasible, those who are not traditionally Republican might find it useful for “democracy” to enter into Republican primaries and try to help the sane portion win.
But of course to many on the left, there is no sane portion and never has been.
There as very little difference back then between Gramm, the other Boll Wevils, and Reagan Republicans. In fact, many of them were to the right of what was still the Rockefeller Wing of the GOP. Gramm basically voted in Congress as a Republican the same way he had been voting as a Democrat.
These days, there is a huge difference between the Mitt Romneys, Jeff Flakes, Adam Kinzingers, etc, and national Democrats.
To many on the Right ,all Democrats are anti American and crazy as Hell to boot.
Oh I agree that was my original point.
They are still Republicans who just don’t like Trump.
Trying to build aThird party just in opposition to a personality (Trump) is not really viable.
I don’t know anyone,certainly not me ,that would advocate them becoming Democrats.Thats nonsensical..
There are Republicans who do not like Trump nor many of his policies.
But still, they do not like the policies of Democrats.
And in some regards (trade, foreign policy, and other areas) the policies were similar.
Democrats did not like Trump personally or other parts of his policies, which of course seemed to be more of his policies of convenience and political calculation.
The only things Trump seems to truly believe in are protectionism and isolationism, which makes his policies very different than what was mainstream in the Republican Party up until just right before him.
CG?
I would check that view on GOPer’s and foeeign affairs….
DSD cam confirm but historically Republicans tend to look inward vs Dem ‘s outward in foreign affairs….
Democrats do NOT get ‘shoes’ thrown at them in pressers in other countries…
Trump went beyond the Republican norm but he
Played to the GOP brand…
Historically, the Whig Party was formed and built pretty much as an anti-Andrew Jackson party.
Sounds like james is saying that historically Democrats “start wars.” That was said before. Bob Dole got in trouble for it in 1976 by suggesting it, but no, in the post WWII era, Republicans have been more in favor of trade and of the role of the U.S. in defending democracy around the world.
People certainly were not criticizing GHWB in 1992 because he was “looking too much towards home”, so that’s a pretty suspect argument all around and I do not get the point about the show throwing incident. Are you suggesting it was deserved?
Nope….
Not about starring wars
Referring to foreign affairs
I think GOPer’s are more ‘America First ‘ types
Democrats as ‘we row TOGETHER’
Dem president’s have had to clean up after Bush II and Trump in foreign affairs.,.
This is contrary to every Presidential campaign between 1960 and 2012.
In every one of those, the Republican was said to be too focused on foreign policy, and building up the military, and not willing to do enough at home and help Americans domestically.
Trump is the one who co-opted that message. Of course, he had voted for many of those Democrats who ran for President too.
Republicans Leaving the Party Only Helps Trump
Bloomberg: “Tens of thousands of Republicans have left the party in the weeks since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a move that sidelines members who could have loosened Donald Trump’s ever-tightening grip on the GOP.”
“That’s a sliver of the 74.2 million people who voted for Trump in November… Yet the actual effect on partisan politics might be the opposite of what was intended. The remaining Republicans are likely to be those most loyal to Trump — which could help Trump-backed candidates get elected in primaries that often are decided by just a few votes.”
(Of course THIS also COULD result in problems for the Grand ole’Party as more ‘radical’ Trumpists might make things easier for Democrats in ‘swing ‘ districts?)
Unless we move to ranked choice voting nationwide and eliminate winner take all electoral votes a 3rd party is hopeless.
Yeah that would be interesting .
In a ranked voting situation a “Center Right” Party candidate would likely be everyone’s second choice,Democrats and Republicans.
The two party system, with the parties as strong institutions, has always served this country best, and should be the model moving forward.
We have seen major parties die and be replaced before though in history and such a thing may or may not happen again.
In my opinion, it is flawed thinking that a center right party would always be people’s second choice.
People who are progressive will not necessarily prefer the progressive candidate and people’s who are moderate will not necessarily prefer the moderate candidate. There are many, many examples of moderates for example disliking the most moderate candidate for a variety of reasons.
A third party is hopeless in most states, but it can work if it concentrated solely on the states where it has a chance. I think a center right party wins local elections in places like Alaska,
No third party will survive on a national level in present day America…
The Grand ole’ Party HAS issues…
Remember an infection starts small and grows and GROWS….