Remember when they idolized Raygun?

[EnergizedLib]

Before 2015, it was Raygun this, Raygun that.

And yeah, he was a lousy president, but they also idolized someone who spoke in favor of Social Security, gun control and the separation of church and state, and despite being one of the worst presidents of all time, even he seemed to have his positives in retrospect.

We’ve been in an eight-year nightmare that I don’t see ending at least until he dies or is locked up.

And they accuse celebrities of getting involved in politics, but they spent decades idolizing an actor who got into politics, now worship and dictate their whole platform off what a corrupt reality TV Star says.

Something is wrong with them psychologically when they preach their gospel, but also have their hero worship here on earth.

[WarGamer]

1. You'll be disappointed.

Trump isn't the movement, he's the figurehead.

They'll attach to someone else when he's gone.

MAGAt's are basically the Tea Party, expanded... mixed with a few more special interest groups.

[EnergizedLib]

2. The Tea Party had no one leader

TFG seems to be more popular than his policies, as evidenced by him being seen as a threat, but the party’s been losing elections in 2018 and the Democrats doing exceptionally well for a party holding the White House.


My guess is they might latch onto someone else after him, but it might not be immediately afterward.

I’m waiting for them to say he’ll rise three days after he dies.

[TwilightZone]

7. There's more to it than that.

The TP was mostly just a front for the GOP. MAGA is more like a religious cult, with Trump as their leader, and, in some cases, their Christ figure.

Replacing him won't be as easy as just plugging someone else in. He has a unique combination of abhorrent traits that appeals to his followers.

[WarGamer]

8. lol... well said.

I think any Trump replacement knows they must mirror his abhorrent traits...

[Ocelot II]

3. Reagan had a much different vibe from Trump. His shtick was Kindly Old Grandfather,

and as an actor he effectively persuaded a lot of people that he cared about them and he was going to make everything OK. In 1980 Reagan took advantage of circumstances that were beyond Carter's control to make him seem ineffective; in 1984 he had the advantage of incumbency and, still maintaining his Nice Grandpa image, defeated Mondale, who had been Carter's VP, in a landslide. But TFG's affect was and still is always dark, not (fake) warm and fuzzy like Reagan's. Even Bush II described TFG's inaugural address as "some weird shit." Reagan was popular because he seemed nice; TFG is popular with some people precisely because he very obviously isn't nice.

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. They also worshipped "W"

The GOP has managed to find someone worse than the last since Nixon.

How will they find someone worse than Trump? Somehow, they will - it has become a job requirement.

[SheilaAnn]

6. I wonder if Speaker Mike would be on their radar. He's crazy religious, a zealot and some seem to like him. n/t

[EnergizedLib]

13. That's all we need

Not only is he a theocrat, he’s shown himself to be nothing but a partisan hack.

[TwilightZone]

11. Not on the same scale as Trump.

W was often just a figurehead. Cheney and others were running a shadow presidency.

Trump is running the whole GOP show, even when he's not.

[walkingman]

5. The message everyone should take from this is the GOP is not a valid political

party and if they continue to support these people things will just continue to get worse.

America has been fortunate since it's founding that we have maintained our historic structure in terms of politics and governmental structure. History shows that this will not last forever and I suspect in the near future we will see significant changes.....

It is all up to us. If we make the wrong decisions it will not be something that will be easy to recover from.

[Basic LA]

9. Ronnie's still worshipped by many.

As a member, I get the American Legion & VFW monthly magazines, where Reagan's visage graces nearly every ad & article. They're basically Ronnie fanzines.

[ificandream]

10. Repughs have always loved celebrities.

George Murphy, Sonny Bono, Shirley Temple Black, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Reagan, Dr. Oz, Clay Aiken, Fred Thompson, Jack Kemp, (Yes, not all of them won their respective elections.)

The thing is most of them weren't qualified for politics. But they still got Republican support anyway.

[Liberal In Texas]

12. They still do. They even stuck his name on the front of National Airport.

He's still St. Reagan to them even though today he would probably be in the Romney-Cheney et al. camp.

I hear Nixon is making a comeback with the YRs too.