Life after Trump: Republicans brace for betrayal and civil war after 2016

[malaise]

At least three factions prepare to fight for the party, divided amid Donald Trump’s accusations of corruption and his appeals to fading demographics
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/15/republican-party-after-donald-trump-paul-ryan
<snip>
In September, Trump appeared competitive. In October, he collapsed. A 2005 video in which he bragged about groping women was followed by a slew of allegations of sexual assault and more than 160 Republican leaders who abandoned Trump. He has declared war on members of his own party, attacking the House speaker, Paul Ryan, and turned to increasingly authoritarian claims, insisting that Clinton must be jailed.

Republicans have started to fear that 8 November will not be the end but rather the beginning of all-out civil war, asking whether Trumpism can survive Trump, and whether those who support him can survive his candidacy. Who can unify the party of Abraham Lincoln? Who can avoid a historic fourth consecutive defeat in the election of 2020?

Much depends on whether 2016 has an effect on the Senate, where Democrats stand a strong chance of taking control, and on the House, which may now be in play. The maverick businessman has already threatened to dispute the election’s result, claiming the election is rigged, and already lashed out at moderate Republicans for not backing him.

“No one knows what’s going to be left of the party on November 9,” said Charlie Sykes, an influential conservative radio talkshow host. “Republican officials I’ve talked to have gone beyond anger to a sense of anguish about the future of the party,” he said.

“The damage that Trump has done will not end on November 8. I don’t think any Republicans really know what a post-Trump party looks like. They’re hoping it’s a one-off event but I don’t see the civil war going away any time soon.”

Sykes, who has known Ryan since he was first elected to the House in 1998, regards the 46-year-old Wisconsin Catholic, a family man and devotee of Ayn Rand, as its intellectual leader. “If there’s anybody who ought to emerge as the titular leader of the party in the ruins, it will be Paul Ryan.”

[central scrutinizer]

1. If Paul Ryan is your intellectual leader

You are a bunch of really dumb mofos.

[dhol82]

6. +1

[anamandujano]

2. I hope this jockeying for lead Puke becomes THE story soon. It could take the focus off the maniac.

“The damage that Trump has done will not end on November 8. I don’t think any Republicans really know what a post-Trump party looks like. They’re hoping it’s a one-off event but I don’t see the civil war going away any time soon.”

Sykes, who has known Ryan since he was first elected to the House in 1998, regards the 46-year-old Wisconsin Catholic, a family man and devotee of Ayn Rand, as its intellectual leader. “If there’s anybody who ought to emerge as the titular leader of the party in the ruins, it will be Paul Ryan.”

[safeinOhio]

9. Catholic and devotee of Ayn Rand?

Can't be both.

[irisblue]

12. but he is. cognitive dissonance in maximum strength

[NastyRiffraff]

16. You'd be surprised what "good" Catholics are able to believe

A Catholic former friend of mine doesn't believe in evolution (unlike the Church itself) or climate change, and thinks the minimum wage ought to be abolished. Oh, and she's voting for Trump.

[manicraven]

3. Will the GOP scapegoat Trump for ALL of the damage?

“The damage that Trump has done will not end on November 8."

All of the GOP needs to be held accountable! They were fueling this mess for years, and they still don't really denounce Trump either for being a racist, bigot, pervert, liar, etc.

[anamandujano]

20. The party is already a shambles. The American people are holding them accountable.

They will never go away. Let them argue it out. Any story that takes the spotlight off the lunatic and shows what little power he has left is good stuff in my book.

[oberliner]

4. Paul Ryan has lost the base

It will be interesting to see where the Trumpians go.

[SamKnause]

5. Fuck Paul Ryan.

He is the problem, not the solution.

The Republicans are the problem.

The Tea Party Republicans are the problem.

The White Supremacists Republicans are the problem.

The KKK Republicans are the problem.

The Creationists Republicans are the problem.

The Grover Norquist Republicans are the problem.

Their policies are devastating for this country and the world.

[mountain grammy]

21. Exactly!

[GOLGO 13]

33. Evangelicals are the problem.

[The Polack MSgt]

7. I have to quote Juanita Jean on this

It isn't a Civil War since that would imply that at least one side opposed slavery

[underpants]

11. Oooh

[guillaumeb]

8. Follower of Ayn Rand and intellectual leader are mutually exclusive.

Ryan is an unprincipled career politician who would wage class warfare on the bottom 90% to fulfill his supply side fantasies.

[underpants]

10. Great article. They are hoping for another Reagan.

They don't realize that Reagan was literally playing a role. He wasn't real.

[LuvNewcastle]

13. Reagan is at the root of their current failures.

They don't realize that everything Reagan stood for has gotten us into the mess we're in. Plenty of the younger Americans get it, but there are still quite a few older ones who hold on to that snake oil that was sold to them back in the 80s. They think that if we just cut taxes for the rich one more time and cut spending on social programs again that just maybe this time.....

[katmondoo]

14. Not me

I was never for him, disliked him completely. I always viewed him as just playing the part of president while spreading his right wing idea's that have destroyed the middle class for more than a generation.

[LuvNewcastle]

19. I never liked him either, but I was too young to vote

back then. My first election was 1988, and I voted for Dukakis. I could see back in the day that Reagan wasn't all there. Hell, it got to where Nancy wouldn't even let him talk to reporters, and there were hardly any press conferences. My parents didn't see it though. I saw then how people can lull themselves into complacency when the urge is strong enough.

[mountain grammy]

22. He won all but 5 states

I was devastated. I wanted to move to Hawaii because it went for Carter and was far away from the mainland. 1980, the beginning of the end.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

18. Demographics is at the root of their current failures

[underpants]

23. In Presidential races it really starts with the math

Any Democratic candidates starts with 246 Electoral College votes.
That is taking Obama's 2012 332 total and subtracting NV CO NM IOWA Virginia and OHIO and Florida. A Democrat only needs to pick up 24 votes in those states or pick up N. Carolina (15) and some mixture of those states.

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. So am I.

Reagan is dead, and very soon the GOP will follow suit.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

17. The civil war ended quite some time ago, the useful idiots took over the asylum.

If Trump goes away his base will just throw their support behind the next fucknut, the cancer is in their blood.

[ThoughtCriminal]

24. Will any of the GOP survivors in the House and Senate switch parties?

Hint to those planning to switch - it's the "DEMOCRATIC Party", not "Democrat Party". Get used to it.

Mixed feelings about that. It may help create or solidify a Democratic majority, but may also have the effect of moving the party farther right of center.

[malaise]

25. Not more blue dogs please

Fugg 'em!

[hatrack]

28. That's my concern - a bigger D Party tent moving more right than left . . . .

OTOH, more Blue Dogs lost in 2010 (27) than are currently in Congress (14), so it may be a problem that's already solved itself.

[malaise]

31. I hope so

Enough already

[heaven05]

30. true

Last edited Mon Oct 17, 2016, 09:20 AM - Edit history (1)

look at what they offered our Party leader in the last 7+ years, nothing. Don't need no republican lites bringing down our Party and causing more of the type of divisivness and turmoil that they have created in their political party. Stay the fuck away.

[malaise]

32. That simple

It's gonna get real ugly soon

[chillfactor]

26. ryan the intellectual leader?

[hatrack]

27. Not sure re. "historic" nature of a fourth defeat in 2020 . . . .

FDR and Truman kicked the GOP's ass five straight times.

Other than that, a delightful read concerning a delightful prospect!

[Willie Pep]

29. The only thing keeping the GOP alive is gerrymandering, voter suppression and money/astroturf.

Unfortunately, those are still formidable obstacles for us. I hope Trump hurts Republicans all the way down to the state and local level, because that is where we need to fight them the hardest. We have to take back the state legislatures and governor's mansions next.