My friend Jonathan Martin wrote a provocative column in Politico today in which he notes that lots and lots of establishment Republicans believe that the best way for the GOP to get back to its conservative roots is for Donald Trump to lose the election this fall.
Jmart writes:
For most Republicans who’ve not converted to the Church of MAGA, this scenario is barely even provocative. In fact, asking around with Republicans last week, the most fervent private debate I came across in the party was how best to accelerate Trump’s exit to the 19th Hole.
One high-level Republican, conceding it may only be “wishful thinking,” even floated the idea of a Harris victory followed by Biden pardons of both his son, Hunter, and Trump. That would take the issue of both cases off Harris’ plate and, more to the point, drain the energy behind Trump’s persecution complex so that Republicans can get on with the business of winning elections.
Wishful thinking indeed!!!
That will NEVER work. For two big reasons:
1. Donald Trump isn’t going anywhere. If he loses in the fall, there’s a 0% chance that he will concede. Trump has already said that the only way he can lose this election is if Democrats cheat him out of it. Do you think he is suddenly going to have an election night conversion and admit he lost fair and square?
NO CHANCE! I have said it before and I will say it again here: Donald Trump will be the de facto leader (or just the plain leader) of the Republican party until he dies. Period.
2. The base of the party doesn’t have any interest in a return to the past. The smartest quote in the Politico piece comes from longtime GOP strategist Terry Sullivan: “You’re assuming Republicans have a top of the ticket problem and not a voter base problem. It’s not like our leaders have been leading the voters to the wilderness against the voters’ judgment.”
Correct. There is zero interest among the party base to abandon the national populism of Trump. The idea that, if Trump lost in November, there would be a grassroots movement to return to the internationalist approach to trade and foreign policy and the debt and deficit reduction focus at home is laughable. The party is all about sticking it to the man and giving the finger to the media these days. And the base seems to like it just fine thank you.
It amazes me that almost a decade into Donald Trump there are still Republicans out there who think that somehow this is a blip, an anomaly — that all they need is one more election and then everything is going to go back to “normal.”
THIS is normal now for the Republican party. And will be until Trump dies — and possibly much longer than that.
I explore all of that in today’s edition of The Morning.
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The Morning: A laughable idea about the future of the GOP