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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Revenge of the Normal Republicans
The AtlanticSome of my friends, some of my former colleagues, they are desperate, Hurd tells me. They are so desperate to hold on to their positions, to hold on to their power, that they make really bad decisions.
Those bad decisions are evident when it comes to big, history-forming events, such as the partys enabling of Donald Trumps assault on American democracy. But the bad decisions are also made subtly, in response to smaller episodes every single day, often to accommodate the partys ugliest impulses. (The third chapter of Hurds book, written as an open letter to the Republican Party, is titled Dont Be an Asshole, Racist, Misogynist, or Homophobe.)
The desperationlawmakers catering to the loudest voices in the party baseis not healthy, Hurd says. Its the by-product of safely partisan districts that provide more incentive to light fires than put them out. Its the consequence of the publics collapsing faith in the core institutions of civic society, which invites national politicians to weaponize disputes that should be addressed at the local level. Its the expression of a country in declinea country convinced that its existential concerns are not Chinese sabotage and Russian disinformation, but face masks in public and vaccines for a virus.
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)Revenge implies some kind of effect I see no evidence of.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Sort of?
brooklynite
(93,884 posts)WarGamer
(12,106 posts)wiggs
(7,788 posts)Coventina
(26,874 posts)and see that it is barren!
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)wiggs
(7,788 posts)republicans are extreme'. I'm sure he's a compelling figure and probably has a lane but these 'normal' republicans, like Kasish, still like to play down gop extremism and play up faults of the left
He says the gop is a party of disinformation then makes sure we know he feels the same about the left, pointing out that Adam Schiff leaked false information about Trump and Russia (I don't think Schiff did, but if sometimes wasn't 100% accurate it doesn't compare to the lied congressional gop members spew every day).
2naSalit
(86,076 posts)So a self described normal republican walks away and writes a book. Where I seen that before?
BlueGreenLady
(2,823 posts)"Normal Republican" , imho.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)WarGamer
(12,106 posts)80-90% of their "base"
keep_left
(1,750 posts)The desperation Hurd describes--in which his former colleagues find themselves--is a direct result of this. A worrying sign of their deepening fascism occurred in the 2020 election season, when normally pro-business Republicans began to attack corporations as "woke" and "cucked", sounding exactly like the neo-Nazis of Reddit/4chan/8chan/Gab or whatever the new alt-right hangout is these days.
WarGamer
(12,106 posts)First thing one must understand...
In the GOP... nearly no one "liked" voting for Romney, McCain, Shrub or Dole.
They've always wanted a raging bigot and asshole to run who "understood them".
They always held their nose voting for a Romney.
Tell any political strategist who you meet...
Trump or no Trump, future candidates will all "be Trump".
The actual number of Rick Wilson/Romney/Shrub GOP'ers is 5-10% max and most of them voted Biden.