Opinion: Mainstream Republicans have tolerated extremism for years. Can they finally control it?

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

The Republican Party has lost control of the forces it has long encouraged. An early moment of reckoning took place in the 1980s, according to David Frum’s prescient book “Dead Right.” As conservatives saw it, they had finally taken charge for the first time since FDR’s reign in the 1930s. Now they could repeal the New Deal and the Great Society. As they quickly realized, however, the public was utterly opposed to doing so. Ever since then, Republicans have gotten comfortable lying to their voters.

Over time, the party was taken over by the increasingly frustrated mob. Consider the difference between the government shutdowns of the mid-1990s and of 2013. The former were centrally planned and directed by the House Republican leader, Newt Gingrich (Ga.). The latter was demanded by the tea party, and though House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) acquiesced, he was eventually pushed out of office by those same radicals.

In 2016, the Republican Party could not come together to defeat and purge Trump. The party hierarchy had lost its clout. Besides, other presidential hopefuls such as Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) wanted to court Trump’s base, not alienate it. A few leaders, such as Mitt Romney, condemned Trump, but it was all too little, too late.

U.S. political parties have become dangerously weak. Once, they picked the presidential candidates to present to the public. Now, primary voters — often more radical than party leaders — have usurped that key function. Once, the parties firmly controlled campaign funds. Today, thanks to various Supreme Court rulings, outside groups have much more cash and influence than they used to.

So the odds are against the Republican Party disciplining its most radical elements. Some hope that electoral losses might force those actions. But remember that while 2020 was a bad year for Trump, it wasn’t such a bad year for other Republicans. The party narrowly lost control of Congress, but it did well in state houses across the country, sometimes with the help of voter suppression and gerrymandering.

[bullimiami]

1. silly. it now controls them. too late.

[Johonny]

3. +1

[LuvNewcastle]

2. The Democratic majority we have now is very fragile.

I sure hope the economy gets a lot better and I hope people see who is on their side these four years. As it stands now, we could go either way. Democrats will have to work hard to get out the vote in every election. We can't afford another term with those fuckers in charge.

[Midnight Writer]

4. They knew it was a snake when they invited it into the house.

[andym]

6. 2020 wasn't a bad electoral year for Trump except that he lost--lol

He received a record number of votes: 75M! They were distributed in a way very favorable to the GOP.
He only lost because Joe Biden received 7 million more votes and even with that, it was very close because of the electoral college.