The GOP is on its deathbed

[n2doc]

Lawrence Martin
LAWRENCE MARTIN
WASHINGTON
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL


You can get a lot of takers in this town for the proposition that the Republican Party is in its death throes, that the radical outliers have taken over, that it will go the way of Canada's old Progressive Conservatives.

This will be Donald Trump's big legacy piece; crushing the establishment Republicans, finishing the process he began in the Republican primaries. There is a lot of sentiment supporting the notion that the Grand Old Party has had its day, that it is time American conservatives moved on. But moving on in the hyper-nationalist, anti-immigrant, protectionist manner of a Mr. Trump is a course Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan could scarcely have imagined.

Trump is isolating himself from important power centres with his approach to governing

We should recall that few saw the demise of the old Canadian Tories coming. Only nine years before their collapse in 1993, that party won 211 seats, the most in Canadian history. But populist and nationalist movements at the provincial level took hold. The populism fomented in the West, chiefly Alberta, under the Reform Party banner while nationalism soared in the province of Quebec with the Bloc Quebecois. Those insurgent forces captured 52 and 54 seats respectively in the 1993 election while the Progressive Conservatives fell a staggering 209 seats short of their 1984 tally.

The forces that took down Canada's grand old party are arguably stronger today in the United States. There's already been a dress rehearsal here, coming in the form of Tea Party insurgency in the GOP beginning in 2009.

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https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-gop-is-on-its-deathbed/article36481644/

[sarisataka]

1. Didn't we hear this a year ago?

That the 2016 election would be the nail in the GOP coffin?

And if the Tea Party is the one to take them down we are looking at replacing one RW conservative party with a more radical and extreme RW party

[NewJeffCT]

7. the 2008 election was also supposed to be the start of

an entire generation of Democratic control as well

That control lasted only a few months when Democrats had the 60 votes in the Senate to beat the standing filibuster Republicans had in place. (Dems did not get seat #60 for several months into 2009 as the recounts and lawsuits related to Al Franken meant he wasn't seated for months - then, Ted Kennedy passed away and his caretaker was only in office for a few more months until Scott Brown pulled the big upset and won...)

We had the defunding of ACORN, followed by the Tea Party rise and sweep in 2010 and excessive gerrymandering at the state level because Republicans made big gains at the state level as well. You could almost say that other than the 2012 re-election of Obama, it's been a steady rise of Republican power at every level since 2008.

[Orrex]

10. And the year before that. And the year before that.

Funny that they control the press, all three branches of government, most state legislatures and most governorships, yet they're on their deathbed.

[sarisataka]

11. I remember when

Gerald Ford was sworn in, some pundits labeled him "the last Republican President"

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. They surely have power and control

but nobody besides their approx. 30% "base" actually loves them and/or their policies, but they've gamed the system so thoroughly and our side is disenfranchised in a lot of places that they are difficult to remove from their entrenched positions. Sort of like a stubborn stain that you can't quite rub out (but worse).

[Orrex]

27. Of course.

They hold all positions of power, and they control the mechanisms by which they might otherwise be removed.

Doesn't matter if their base is only 10% of the population; while they control the government and the voting, they're not going anywhere.

[Cosmocat]

21. I have 100s of posts here going back nearly a decade pushing back on this mentality

The stupid is at DEFCON 2 in this country, and it isn't getting better ...

[wryter2000]

38. I know I read about it in 2009

I'm pretty sure I have a book with that title

[smirkymonkey]

2. K&R

[HughBeaumont]

3. I wish I could believe that . . . .

. . . but all these continued Republican victories tell me America still hasn't learned their lesson from Nixon, Reagan and the two Bushes. America still will not quit The Republican Party. It seems to be our strongest and most addictive narcotic.

[malaise]

4. Remove the life support

PLEASE!

[democratisphere]

5. Must drive a golden stake through the heart of the GOP.

[CanonRay]

6. I've heard this 20 times since Goldwater

I have yet to see the corpse.

[Willie Pep]

8. Yeah people have been saying this for a while.

I don't buy it. Plenty of people said the same thing in 2008 and look at where the Democrats are now and the Republicans are today in terms of control of states and the Federal government. I will never believe "X party is on its deathbed" ever again unless there is definitive proof. It makes people too complacent and underestimates the ability of parties to come roaring back.

The fact that the Bannon wing of the conservative movement is fighting the establishment wing just shows that the Republican Party has factions, which is also true of our party. Because of the nature of the two-party system both parties have to be Big Tents and include factions with different priorities that sometimes don't mesh well together. Republicans are especially good at "coming home" when it comes time to vote (sadly, probably better than Democrats) and seem to be very willing to hold their nose and vote for the Republican even if they don't like him/her.

[Fla Dem]

9. But what could rise from the ashes may well be our worse nightmare.

Bannon, Brietbart , Mercer backed politicians.

[MineralMan]

12. Wouldn't That Be Nice? It's Bullshit, Sadly.

People have been saying that for some time, but look what happened in 2016. That "dying" party is now in control of all three branches of Federal government and most state governments.

The Republican Party is not dead. It is not dying. What is dying is Democrats going to the polls and electing Democrats. We lose because we do not vote. In mid-term elections, Democrats stay home. In Presidential elections, enough Democrats stayed home or wasted their votes on idiotic support for third parties.

If we do not change that, the Republican party is not only not dying, it is thriving and will continue to thrive. Votes. That's what we need. That's all we need. Let's go get them, shall we?

[sprinkleeninow]

39. 'Allo, 'allo.

Who am I to say,; HOWEVER, I 'feel' that what Comey announced twice regarding Hillary's emails really put the final kabosh on a Democratic victory.

All other factors factored in, but I feel that this is what really turned the tide.

Just my 25¢. Increased from 5¢ due to inflation. 😊

[unblock]

13. Yeah one symptom of a political party on it deathbed is controlling all 3 branches of government

The republican party certainly has problems, but deathbed? That's just idiotic.

The current dysfunction will resolve itself one way or another.

My best guess is that the bigots will win the fight for the "heart and soul of the party" (an odd phrase when it comes to bigots) and the business conservatives will become independents or democrats.

The Republican Party will simply be the white nationalist party.

[Wednesdays]

14. A lock on all three branches of federal government,

and control of what, 35 states or so, and they're in their death throes?

Yeah, and I've got a bridge to sell, real cheap.

[IADEMO2004]

15. and they want to take everyone with them.

[DrDan]

16. wish I had a buck for every time I read that

I think it is particularly funny when the GOP has
- Senate
- House
- White House
- 2/3 of governors

I am reminded of Monty Python's Black Knight

[hibbing]

24. Plus moving into school boards

Along with all other levels of government and they are all batshit crazy. I think these articles are ridiculous.
Going to be a tough two weeks for the Big Red!

Peace

[DrDan]

35. it sure is . . . but that diversion is worthwhile - gets my mind off this cretin in the WH

[jcmaine72]

17. What's taking them so long to die already?

Like a few others have mentioned, the death of the rethug party has been predicted for decades. I used to believe these arguments, especially about how time and demographics aren't on their side. However, like some type of radioactive kudzu weed, they keep spreading and infesting new areas of the garden. I'm not as optimistic about their imminent demise as I used to be. If that's how some people define dying, then what do you call what we're doing?

[octoberlib]

19. No, its not. This has been said too many

times to count through the years.

[snort]

20. Wait, he has an approach to governing?

[Honeycombe8]

22. No. The pendulum swings one way, then the other. Can't count the times I've heard of the death....

of one party or the other, in my lifetime.

[Softail1]

23. time to put a lid on this nonsense

...so sick and tired of this shit. They have F*ckin practically taken over EVERYTHING election wise...and still we have people saying stick a fork in them....ya right. GOTV is all I can say.

[Alea]

25. Rachel Maddow said that after the 2008 election

"We are witnessing the death of the republican party" as she laughed and snickered as only Rachel can do.

Now they have the Presidency, both houses of congress, and SCOTUS majority.

[Chakaconcarne]

26. They are only in power because of Russia....

The left now has 2 opponents.

[Iliyah]

34. Ditto

They know how to cheat and steal and using suppression on voting rights. Russia definitely interfered with the blessing of the GOPs. Russia may have been doing so for many years.

People of color came out to vote but many were denied. I see the media not reflecting on that issue. Stop the propaganda.

[Amishman]

44. Russia didn't give them the state legislatures or Congress

Blaming it all on Russia is ignoring the problem

[Spy Car]

28. Descent into populism is a horrible turn.

We should take no cheer watching the GOP head down the populist path forged by the Tea Party.

Just like Canadians can take no cheer from the rise their populist movements.

Let's make sure our party doesn't respond to the same ugly populist impulses.

Populism is a scourge.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. I'm a firm believer in assisted suicide.

[lunasun]

30. Oh yeah sure congress WH & SC slanted GOP . Why it's obvious

[kairos12]

31. The legacy will be a candidate as the white nationalist representative.

Sadly, this identity will win 37% of the vote in the next election. Combine that percentage with voter suppression and gerrymandering and this person could win. The Republican Party just gets a new name with a more hard core, racist electorate.

[moda253]

32. This is why Big Tent is the way to go as a party

Differing viewpoints within the party is healthy and allows the party to learn the ability to adapt and change without completely fracturing.

[NCjack]

33. I will believe the GOP is on its deathbed when I see the foam flowing from

their noses and mouths, and their spit bubbles popping. Let me know when we reach that stage.

[berksdem]

36. If I had

dollar for every time this has been said I could fund HRC's next run for POTUS.

[dembotoz]

37. and dying is how they control everything in my state

from dog catcher thru and including the supreme court

[ThingsGottaChange]

40. Then pull the damn plug already! nt

[LiberalLovinLug]

41. This is from a Canadian point of view

A yuuuuuuuge difference.

Here in Canada, there is no Fox News. And there is no dominance of a RW company like Clear Channel owning most daytime talk radio. There is no Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. There are still RW radio hosts but there is not the blatant lying and conspiracy theory pushers getting prime time. Our extremist RW media attempts to increase visibility have failed. It doesn't mean we don't have our own RW wingnut blowhards. There is a person, Ezra Levant, who is the founder of something called Rebel Media and has a YouTube channel who spouts the usual racist baiting, fear mongering that you are all so familiar with down there. But he started as a journalist for a conservative leaning, but respectable MSM paper, the Post. He was too radical for them and left for a more RW media company Sun News. At around this time he was sued for libel, successfully, twice. They did have a nick name here as "Fox News North" but in all honesty they never gained much viewership. They cried foul that our regulatory body didn't let them be a part of basic cable news, mostly because they couldn't prove that they were relevant enough to most viewers. Sun News eventually collapsed along with Ezra's voice. So he started Rebel Media on YouTube.

We also have a large and long running publicly funded media company, the CBC, who generally keeps the other private media companies in check with their stellar journalism. And there are places in the far north where they are the only station, mostly because there is no money to be made per viewer in more remote places.

And we also have a solid public financing of elections which negates a lot of RW money infiltrating and supporting and building the kind of RW media machine that exists down there ie..Koch brothers.

So eventually the truth catches up to the Cons that have ruled our country. The Mulroney Cons of the 80's, and the Harper Cons of the 2000's. And their comebacks usually involve a whole rebuild and rebranding.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

42. I've heard that before and somehow they manage to get more power and become

more fascistic.

[BadGimp]

43. Great post - great read!!

[PDittie]

45. Don't count on it

Come spend a little time down here in Texas if you believe this.