This is sad but true. Your readers for whom Watergate is history rather than lived experience should look up the meeting between Nixon and the Republican senators (including Barry Goldwater!) who told him it was time to go. The spinelessness of today's GOP leadership is what helps Trump keep going.
Chris - I believe it is out of fear that none of the leaders will stand up now - not just the fear they can be ostracized like Liz Cheney, however, fear this is their last stand. Once DJT is neutralized, the fear is the MAGA crowd fractures, and cannot be held together without another snake-oil salesman like DJT to interest them, and fear conservatives may not have a chance post-DJT. I believe McConnell feared in 2021 if DJT had been convicted at the conclusion of the 2nd Impeachment, there was zero chance for him (McConnell) to regain the Majority Leader chair in the Senate (which ultimately he did not anyway, thanks in large part to DJT). And it is the fear that the likely follow on leaders, Hawley, Cruz, Rubio, Scott, and maybe Cotton, will not have any chance of catching the same 'lightening in a bottle'. They are afraid, and they do not see another path...
Back then becuase of direct life experience of the Depression and WW2 with people pulling together the Parties' attitude was Nation-Party-Person.
For the current GOP, that has been changed 180 degrees to Person-Party-Nation.
No amount of lapel flag pins worn make a difference to the Party that castigated (alleged Kenyan-born) Barak Obama for not only wearing a cream-colored suit, but for not wearing an American flag lapel pin.
And it's been downhill for the Party of Lincoln since then.
He is addicted to the attention and power he feels from his base. That lights him up. That is his oxygen. His core being needs to be adored and they are his crack.
This is a very astute observation. I think Trump feeds off being loved (in that way, he's not that different from the average politician). And as long as he can speak to cheering crowds, he is going to do it.
Chris, this has been my fear all along. The GOP is stuck with him and due to cowardice. However, the country as a whole, will be the ones to suffer the consequences. It will not be good for the country. He will be the nominee but pray that he loses the general. Having said that, we will still be in trouble, serious trouble, as he will try and blow up the country for revenge. The time to have pushed him out is way gone. The GOP should not have let him get this far in 2016 but they did and here’s we are, at the precipice of some very bad times to come.
I have a two word response to this column: "Silvio Berlusconi." He was the Italian showman who for years and years, held political office (on and off), and who singlehandedly changed the social and political structure of Italy. HE JUST DIED, at the age of 86. In his later years, Berlusconi was waxen in appearance due to the multiple cosmetic surgeries that he underwent, starting from the top of his head on down. But everyone dies. 100% prognosis.
Trump will quit when he gets sick. His vanity will prevent him from being in the limelight...but for as long as he can, he'll be out there, with hair transplants, oversized suits to mask his obesity, an orangy artificial tan, until he resembles a caricature of his former self. At some point, he may refuse to be seen in public. (Imagine that.)
In closing, pondering Trump's case, he who promotes fast food, he who abhors exercise...could be sooner than later. Just sayin'....bring on another Big Mac, please ...
I very very want a pre DJT Conservative party to return. At some point, conservative media and leaders will have to say that it is time for new leadership to take over. I know you said the pendelum swings- will it swing within 10 years or so? How do parties change their views? Both parties need to be big tent in order to compete.
I honestly think when Trump is dead is when things may start to change. That said, Don Jr. is very interested in politics and could well run for president on his dad's legacy. I wouldn't be surprised.
one more thing: I'm sure many of the GOP is waiting for DJT to be out of the picture before shaping the direction of the party. I saw Haberman and Jonathan Martin write that many are waiting until 2028 to make their move.
Bad news for the Republicans and Good news for the Democrats. Aa long as he remains the leader of the Gop they will continue to lose general elections and the Country will remain better for it! See what happensed in 2018 ,2020 and 2022. The Democrats would continue to say pls bring him on.
I would agree iff* the Electoral College didn't make it such that a minority can win. The R's are structurally advantaged by the EC, and that will insulate them (the R's) from their reckoning. This can go on for a long long time.
(* - if and only if, my mathematics background shines through)
I don’t think this is good news. Trump is tearing the country apart, and will continue to do so as long as he draws breath, even if he loses again (and again).
Yeah, Barbara. I think it's pretty open and shut. He is simply not going to voluntarily walk away. And I don't see the commitment within GOP leadership to push him out. (And I am not sure, at this point, they could do it anyway!)
With the latest polling showing Trump with a 35%+ lead on DeSantis, it is clear that every tawdry twist of the indictment process just further solidifies Trump's support. The problem is not Trump, but 60% of the GOP that have decided that America is irretrievably broken and the rule of law has ceased to exist. All leading them to the inescapable conclusion that another revolution is required to restore the Republic.
Trumpism isn't Trump but a section of the GOP electorate that has been force-fed lies and red meat by multiple leaders of the GOP since the Reagan years. Trump currently may be the best at manipulating that anger & resentment, but it would just refocus on another candidate if he left the stage.
You reap what you sow has never been more apropos.
“As long as he is alive, he will be the dominant force within the GOP. He will never leave.”
I believe you’re thinking too small. Cults seem to end either with the Jonestown/Waco model or as a religion. Be prepared for the church of Trumpism after He 😉 passes. Many of the Evangelicals are already signed on.
It’s nice to hear that your favorite writer is @jonathanvlast.
Both of you are at the top of my list, because you’re both sophisticated and perceptive about how electoral politics work. You both dig into the boring stats and numerical aspects of it, as well as the history, and then you get into the psychology of the voters that create those numbers.
A lot of writers traffic in wishcasting, or let their emotional connections influence their analysis. Not you two gentlemen.
Everything he touches, dies. Ergo, Trump is Death.
Trump never should have been allowed to run. He's not fit; Trump is a narcissistic criminal sociopath. If he lives long enough, and he may have already lived long enough, he will destroy our country.
That's an interesting question, Kelly. I have always assumed he would but of late I have at least entertained the possibility that he would try to stay in longer.
This is sad but true. Your readers for whom Watergate is history rather than lived experience should look up the meeting between Nixon and the Republican senators (including Barry Goldwater!) who told him it was time to go. The spinelessness of today's GOP leadership is what helps Trump keep going.
There is a clear difference between how leaders of the party acted then and how they are acting now. I am not entirely sure why...
In 1974 there was still a sense among Republicans that the Country came first. That's missing now.
The irony is that the criticism of Biden is he IS acting like the old time leaders and yet he is proving wildly successful.
Chris - I believe it is out of fear that none of the leaders will stand up now - not just the fear they can be ostracized like Liz Cheney, however, fear this is their last stand. Once DJT is neutralized, the fear is the MAGA crowd fractures, and cannot be held together without another snake-oil salesman like DJT to interest them, and fear conservatives may not have a chance post-DJT. I believe McConnell feared in 2021 if DJT had been convicted at the conclusion of the 2nd Impeachment, there was zero chance for him (McConnell) to regain the Majority Leader chair in the Senate (which ultimately he did not anyway, thanks in large part to DJT). And it is the fear that the likely follow on leaders, Hawley, Cruz, Rubio, Scott, and maybe Cotton, will not have any chance of catching the same 'lightening in a bottle'. They are afraid, and they do not see another path...
C.
ANSWER: Cowardness.
Back then becuase of direct life experience of the Depression and WW2 with people pulling together the Parties' attitude was Nation-Party-Person.
For the current GOP, that has been changed 180 degrees to Person-Party-Nation.
No amount of lapel flag pins worn make a difference to the Party that castigated (alleged Kenyan-born) Barak Obama for not only wearing a cream-colored suit, but for not wearing an American flag lapel pin.
And it's been downhill for the Party of Lincoln since then.
I think there will be efforts by donors to find a new nominee- many of them never liked DJT to begin with.
He is addicted to the attention and power he feels from his base. That lights him up. That is his oxygen. His core being needs to be adored and they are his crack.
This is a very astute observation. I think Trump feeds off being loved (in that way, he's not that different from the average politician). And as long as he can speak to cheering crowds, he is going to do it.
But persons who are not sociopathic narcissists don't wrap their entire being in the search for continual adoration.
Reading about Teddy Roosevelt FDR, Reagan, and Clinton it's obvious that they all had over-sized egos craving cheering attention.
The difference --- they all wanted to make life for Americans better. They pushed for legislation to create that change.
Trump's #1 preoccupation is himself, himself, and only himself. If he never pushed for a piece of legislation, he'd not give a damn.
Chris, this has been my fear all along. The GOP is stuck with him and due to cowardice. However, the country as a whole, will be the ones to suffer the consequences. It will not be good for the country. He will be the nominee but pray that he loses the general. Having said that, we will still be in trouble, serious trouble, as he will try and blow up the country for revenge. The time to have pushed him out is way gone. The GOP should not have let him get this far in 2016 but they did and here’s we are, at the precipice of some very bad times to come.
That's right, Elaine. Pandora's box is VERY much open at this point. Genie is out of the bottle and all that.
I have a two word response to this column: "Silvio Berlusconi." He was the Italian showman who for years and years, held political office (on and off), and who singlehandedly changed the social and political structure of Italy. HE JUST DIED, at the age of 86. In his later years, Berlusconi was waxen in appearance due to the multiple cosmetic surgeries that he underwent, starting from the top of his head on down. But everyone dies. 100% prognosis.
Trump will quit when he gets sick. His vanity will prevent him from being in the limelight...but for as long as he can, he'll be out there, with hair transplants, oversized suits to mask his obesity, an orangy artificial tan, until he resembles a caricature of his former self. At some point, he may refuse to be seen in public. (Imagine that.)
In closing, pondering Trump's case, he who promotes fast food, he who abhors exercise...could be sooner than later. Just sayin'....bring on another Big Mac, please ...
I very very want a pre DJT Conservative party to return. At some point, conservative media and leaders will have to say that it is time for new leadership to take over. I know you said the pendelum swings- will it swing within 10 years or so? How do parties change their views? Both parties need to be big tent in order to compete.
I honestly think when Trump is dead is when things may start to change. That said, Don Jr. is very interested in politics and could well run for president on his dad's legacy. I wouldn't be surprised.
I don't think so. I think there is a split and disaffected conservatives try and form a new party.
Oh, interesting. I rule nothing out!
one more thing: I'm sure many of the GOP is waiting for DJT to be out of the picture before shaping the direction of the party. I saw Haberman and Jonathan Martin write that many are waiting until 2028 to make their move.
No question the likes of Hawley, Cotton, Cruz and Rubio are biding their time...
DJTJ doesn’t have the same malignant charisma as TFG. And TFG will be 77 on Wednesday. An unhealthy 77.
You may not be surprised, but Junior has no "gift" that his father has. The name won't carry him becuase he is a totally unserious person.
Don’t leave out that there is money to be made in being indicted and in running.
And being a candidate may insulate him (or so he hopes) from jail time.
Then the only thing we can hope for is death--either his or ours!!
Bad news for the Republicans and Good news for the Democrats. Aa long as he remains the leader of the Gop they will continue to lose general elections and the Country will remain better for it! See what happensed in 2018 ,2020 and 2022. The Democrats would continue to say pls bring him on.
I would agree iff* the Electoral College didn't make it such that a minority can win. The R's are structurally advantaged by the EC, and that will insulate them (the R's) from their reckoning. This can go on for a long long time.
(* - if and only if, my mathematics background shines through)
I don’t think this is good news. Trump is tearing the country apart, and will continue to do so as long as he draws breath, even if he loses again (and again).
Well that was depressing; the more so because you make such a good case. BTW, I’m also a fan of JVL.
Yeah, Barbara. I think it's pretty open and shut. He is simply not going to voluntarily walk away. And I don't see the commitment within GOP leadership to push him out. (And I am not sure, at this point, they could do it anyway!)
Also, JVL rocks.
JVL and Tim Miller are worth the price of admission at The Bulwark
With the latest polling showing Trump with a 35%+ lead on DeSantis, it is clear that every tawdry twist of the indictment process just further solidifies Trump's support. The problem is not Trump, but 60% of the GOP that have decided that America is irretrievably broken and the rule of law has ceased to exist. All leading them to the inescapable conclusion that another revolution is required to restore the Republic.
Trumpism isn't Trump but a section of the GOP electorate that has been force-fed lies and red meat by multiple leaders of the GOP since the Reagan years. Trump currently may be the best at manipulating that anger & resentment, but it would just refocus on another candidate if he left the stage.
You reap what you sow has never been more apropos.
“As long as he is alive, he will be the dominant force within the GOP. He will never leave.”
I believe you’re thinking too small. Cults seem to end either with the Jonestown/Waco model or as a religion. Be prepared for the church of Trumpism after He 😉 passes. Many of the Evangelicals are already signed on.
Wow that was disheartening but sadly true. I feel for the Republicans (sort of) but mostly for our country. Thanks
It’s nice to hear that your favorite writer is @jonathanvlast.
Both of you are at the top of my list, because you’re both sophisticated and perceptive about how electoral politics work. You both dig into the boring stats and numerical aspects of it, as well as the history, and then you get into the psychology of the voters that create those numbers.
A lot of writers traffic in wishcasting, or let their emotional connections influence their analysis. Not you two gentlemen.
Thanks, Karl. JVL is really terrific. Cogent analysis consistently delivered. hard to ask for more.
Everything he touches, dies. Ergo, Trump is Death.
Trump never should have been allowed to run. He's not fit; Trump is a narcissistic criminal sociopath. If he lives long enough, and he may have already lived long enough, he will destroy our country.
He won’t. Not till he’s dead will we be rid of this ghastly man.
The movement will grow.
Without him at the center screaming their grievances, I’m not so sure. It will more likely just go back under ground where it always was before.
Scarier thought is if he wins. Do you think he’ll be satisfied to serve just 4 years? My guess is not.
That's an interesting question, Kelly. I have always assumed he would but of late I have at least entertained the possibility that he would try to stay in longer.