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I am absolutely loving where the Republican party is right now. To say theyre stuck between nothing but rocks and hard places would be the understatement of the decade.
They enabled Trump. They covered for his stupidity, his racism, his misogyny, his corruption. They Trump-splained his ludicrous statements and tweets. Not only did they accept his obvious lies, they themselves lied in order to protect him.
What the GOP had confirmed for them on November 6th was that their pResident isnt the vote-getter he claims to be, and that his much-touted base couldnt keep the House in Republican (and Trumps) hands. What got shoved in their face was the fact that the majority of Trump-endorsed candidates lost their races.
Which brings us to where the GOP is right now.
The Republicans now know that their pResident isnt the draw he was in 2016. They also now know that he will be investigated by Democrats and are probably shitting themselves over what might be exposed as a result. They also now know that the country is rejecting Trumps policies, and want a check on his outrageous behaviour.
So now we cut to the chase.
Come January, political parties will launch their campaigns for the 2020 presidential election which means the Republicans are going to have to start campaigning for a man they now know to be a loser. They are looking at two years of having to enthusiastically support a man who is already steeped in scandal, and who will undoubtedly be the subject of even more scandals between now and November 2020.
And then theres the Mueller investigation, the findings of which will one way or another be revealed in the midst of the GOP trying to rally the troops to re-elect their lying, corrupt pResident.
I keep hearing that the Republican senate will never impeach Trump and that may be so. But if Muellers probe produces proof of crimes and misdemeanours, confirms collusion with the Russians, exposes Trumps tax fraud, money-laundering, or other criminal activity, the lack of impeachment will be a moot point in the context of trying to get Trump re-elected. I could be wrong, but Sure hes a Russian-colluding crook, but vote for him anyway doesnt strike me as a winning campaign strategy.
So thats where the GOP finds itself tonight: facing two years of trying to promote the re-election of someone they cant possibly believe is re-electable, two more years of defending the increasingly indefensible, two more years of fruitless attempts to Trump-splain the daily spewing of lies, two more years of trying to get ahead of the latest scandal before the next one inevitably hits the headlines.
And then theres Trump himself the worst enemy the Republican party has ever faced, the man who insisted that the partys focus in the midterms should be the caravan of smallpox-and-leprosy carrying terrorists about to invade the country, the man who shocked the nation and the world by refusing to participate in ceremonies honouring fallen US soldiers twice in one weekend on both the national and international stage, the man who continues to spew unhinged tweets that undermine the carefully-crafted memes that Republican powers-that-be put all of their efforts into advancing.
Like I said, theres nothing but rocks and hard places ahead for the GOP and I take unbridled delight in all of it. What I cant help but ponder is how many Republicans are looking back on the past two years and realizing that all of their enabling, all of their covering up, all of their lying, and their eager willingness to abandon every principle they once laid claim to was all for naught.
All theyve wound up with is a party obligation to stand by their man fully knowing that as bad as things are right now, they will only get worse.
The damage Trump has done to the country is inestimable. The damage hes done to the Republican party is priceless. Much of what Trump has done to our nation can be undone. But what Trump has done to the GOP will last for a very, very, very long time.
That thought warms my heart, as I anxiously await the first Republican pundit to appear on a political news show and state with a straight face and as much enthusiasm as they can muster that re-electing a lying, corrupt, unhinged madman is a really good idea.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)nt
obamanut2012
(26,137 posts)The republicans can run Mueller as an Eisenhower Republican. Eisenhower saved us from the Nazis, and theyll say that Mueller saved us from the Russkies.
green917
(442 posts)There is so much criminal malfeasance that Robert Mueller will be prosecuting these cases for years to come. He won't have time to run for president on top of the fact that the base of the party (which now belongs to trump) will never support Mueller.
bdjhawk
(420 posts)And tries to be the great statesman, Id put him on the list of possibilities, too.
The base of the party will leave trump once he cuts SS and Medicare. The tax cuts to the wealthy were needed to starve these programs.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,414 posts)"Laid claim to" is not quite the same as "had", is it? I love it! Thank you.
In many cases, they abandoned the pretense of principle or turned a principle on its head in order to cuddle up to the Crybaby Don.
NanceGreggs
(27,818 posts)... I believe words matter, and I choose mine accordingly.
"Laid claim to" IS very different than "had".
Thanks for noticing the difference between the two.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I honestly think some Republicans will stop supporting him and help pass some decent legislation. All of them have to be thinking of their own elections in the future.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)Sadly, tRump was the "cream of the crop" when the entire gop was running!! He WILL drag many of them down with him. We not only got stuck with tRump, but his entire family, nude "model" and all. What a joke. Not a smart, honest, hard worker among them. I hope Pence, McConnell, Ryan and others are all caught up in the Russian money investigation. I wonder if they feel it was all worth it, so they could get tax cuts for themselves and other wealthy people?
Cha
(297,655 posts)two horrible long Deplorable years to get here.. not knowing if we'd succeed or not.
But, here we are in all its Surreal Glory!
Thanks, Nance for helping us get it here with a modicum of sanity
empedocles
(15,751 posts)some incredible 'clean up' is possible. Thank you all.
PBass
(1,537 posts)Trump has captured the GOP and has over 80% approval rating with Republicans.
In contrast (and this is anecdotal, but still) I see no consensus among Democrats on who they will support in 2020. The rift between the Bernie and Hillary factions still seems raw and painful. And on social media, I see comments like "I would never vote for Elizabeth Warren, she sold out when she endorsed Shillary!" or "I would never vote for Kirsten Gillibrand, after what she did to Al Franken!". "Cory Booker is a corporate Dem!" etc etc.
It's still extremely early, and a lot can change. But Republican voters will turn out en masse, with no holdouts refusing on the grounds that they "refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils". I'm not convinced that Democratic voters can do the same. I certainly hope so... Trump doesn't just deserve to lose, he deserves to lose in a humiliating, historical landslide. Because of voter suppression, gerrymandering, etc, the fact is that we will need every possible Democratic vote to defeat Trump, and right now the Democratic voters seem to be in disarray.
I hope this isn't too negative, because we all definitely need a hopeful vision for the future, after the last two years of Trump scandals, racism, corruption and ineptitude.
NanceGreggs
(27,818 posts)... your concerns have been duly noted.
malaise
(269,157 posts)His base can't win shit. 2016 was stolen.
AZ8theist
(5,493 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)AZ8theist
(5,493 posts)I only assumed because of the BM avatar...
My bad.
Never again. I love your posts.
I'm with you all the way.
malaise
(269,157 posts)The Blue Flower
(5,444 posts)Just saying.
Silver Gaia
(4,546 posts)I remind my hubby of this all the time.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Or there's still plenty of danger.
mtnsnake
(22,236 posts)I think Trump should be very concerned that he has ONLY 80% approval rating with republicans at this point in time. For those assholes to win in 2020, I think they would need 100% approval rating among those idiots to even have a chance. As long as Democrats show up at the polls to vote, they will be fucked next time. Plus, by 2020, I would bet anything that half the independents who voted for LardAss in 2016 will be voting for ANYONE but him next time.
I do agree with you that there is still much to be concerned about as far as unity in our Party. We really do need to work on that and get our act together ASAP. Good post, BTW.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)The KGOP republicans are the party of boofers. They are counting on their barf-solid boofer base to keep their greazy fingers on the Buttons of Power.
yonder
(9,674 posts)docgee
(870 posts)It's their only play if Mueller produces uncontrovertible evidence. They would never recover if they went with tRump all the way to 2020. I mean that's ok with me. It's a lose - lose situation for them. We just have to suffer a little while longer.
AZ8theist
(5,493 posts)BlueJac
(7,838 posts)kentuck
(111,110 posts)Before Trump, it was the Tea Party. It didn't matter what they stood for, so long as it was politically advantageous.
I'm beginning to think it may be more harmful for politicians to be against impeachment?
BSdetect
(8,999 posts)I hope the Dems go after him on his "retirement package"
No security for life or any other perks
No pension
Seize all his assets however hidden
And prison for life
etc
Gothmog
(145,554 posts)TwistOneUp
(1,020 posts)Truth or GOP: Pick one.
coconut22
(97 posts)sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Johnny2X2X
(19,114 posts)Trump road the Obama economy for almost 2 years now. We're heading into a recession, there will be nowhere for Republicans to hide from it. They will own it, Trump will own it.
It will be here some time in 2019 and will a main issue in 2020 whether it's still here or not.
Can you imagine the wipe out that would have happened last week had it arrived early?
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)Some well known Republicans decided not to run this time. Perhaps they sensed this was coming, and didn't want to even be around for the disaster. Like a category 5 hurricane is heading to your town. No escape when it is there, you get out a long time before it is even close.
..After a while, most of us get sick of a loud mouth especially if that mouth is very rude and disrespectful to everyone. Some loud ones, still retain respect and some dignity to others, they are just too fucking loud
...Trump has all the qualities of a mean, rude, totally insensitive loud mouth. He defines it. I don't think he will run for re-election. Like everything else, some strange shit is going to happen. No, I don't know, but I don't think Trump will run for re-election, one way or another...
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)It's a classic Catch-22 for Congressional Republicans. How long can they hold out as the Committee Investigations, more indictments and jail sentences proceed? The fact of Ryan, Flake, Chaffetz and others who had such promise in the party to leave, voluntarily...they know things. I'm not surprised that the others are political ostriches and fail to see the writing on the wall.
I think the pressure between the party that buckled to The Cretin and the "dark and foul mood" in the WH is a recipe for the end coming much sooner than 2020. Can't help but think a lot of that Republican approval rating is getting softer, and it's the Congress folk who will, out of necessity, begin to assess the wavering boundaries.
Great article.
underpants
(182,879 posts)Trump endorsed 75 candidates (mostly is safe red states and districts) 54 of them lost. That, at least, is the last count I read.
Caliman73
(11,744 posts)Trump was never a draw, even in 2016. He lost the popular vote by almost 3 million voters to Hillary and something like over 8 million people voted for 3rd party candidates. Trump, with the help of Russian propaganda, voter suppression, Comey, and possible elections fraud squeaked out an electoral college win by about 77,000 votes across 3 states.
He is popular for ratings but the reality is that he never was anything special. As you said, his act is now stale. He continues to have his cult followers, but he isn't bringing anyone new to the rolls and has chased away anyone decent who might have been caught up in the populism of his early candidacy.
I too await the strategy of re-election. Talk about lipstick on a pig.
Hugin
(33,200 posts)Nothing to add.
yonder
(9,674 posts)"The damage Trump has done to the country is inestimable. The damage hes done to the Republican party is priceless."
Trueblue Texan
(2,440 posts)...believe it was "God's plan" to put Trump in the presidency. I'm an Atheist, but I'm starting wonder if maybe those Christians aren't right. Maybe I'll become a believer yet...
Prolly not, but I could believe there could be some divine plan to destroy the evil Republican party.
mtnsnake
(22,236 posts)I'm taking great pleasure in watching them be miserable, especially Trump, and I can't wait until it gets ten times worse for all of them, which I think is going to happen. Corrupt rotten assholes, all of them, and all devoid of any empathy for others.
warmfeet
(3,321 posts)Democrats, progressives and liberals prevail.
That is my hope, my dream, and my purpose.
No time to lose.
2020 and beyond!
We can do it.
DO IT.
amuse bouche
(3,657 posts)The Wizard
(12,547 posts)he'll declare a national emergency and cancel all elections until further notice. Was he paid by the DNC to implode the Republican Party?
Everything changes once the lying starts. And this lying isn't about a sexual dalliance, but rather subverting the electoral process aided and abetted by a hostile foreign power. Last I heard the punishment for treason involves a blindfold and cigarette.
ailsagirl
(22,899 posts)Brava!!!
Initech
(100,102 posts)JudyM
(29,274 posts)And they are adept at marketing themselves and their boldfaced lies.
I fear they will simply bluff their way out of this history, giving cover for their whole base to re-elect them.
lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)Demovictory9
(32,475 posts)onit2day
(1,201 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)I love it. It is a bit of a calm before the storm when we can celebrate some kind of advancement towards a sane stable future. No brilliant bitter sarcasm, no well deserved righteous pontification, although you do both so well. Just a pause to reflect that we finally have a bit of a rock to grab to climb the mountain. Thanks.