Trump Already Won the Midterms [View all]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

ApocalypseOfTheWeekHat Retweeted:

Whatever happens tonight, Trump's death grip on the Republican Party is only likely to tighten. My story on the MAGAfication of the GOP in 2018:

Link to tweet

POLITICS

Trump Already Won the Midterms

Even if Republicans lose the House on Tuesday, it’s unlikely that the president’s grip on his party will loosen anytime soon.

MCKAY COPPINS
6:00 AM ET

Regardless of how the midterm elections turn out Tuesday night, President Donald Trump will have at least one thing to celebrate: His mission to remake the Republican Party in his own image has been an unequivocal success.

The maga-fication of the GOP that Trump first set in motion three years ago has continued apace this campaign season—with disloyal Republicans getting primaried and purged, formerly fringe media outlets gaining mainstream influence, and key party institutions mutating into weapons of presidential culture war. There’s little sign these trends will abate with a defeat at the ballot box.

Trump’s most vivid triumphs in reorganizing the party around himself came earlier this year, during a wave of primary contests. In one race after another, more traditional Republicans were wiped out by the president’s imitators and allies. Those who survived did so, for the most part, by bear-hugging Trump and his agenda.

In South Carolina, Representative Mark Sanford—one of the few House Republicans who regularly criticized the president—suffered a stunning upset to a Trump-backed candidate. ... In Alabama, Representative Martha Roby—who said she wouldn’t vote for Trump in 2016—was forced into a runoff, and finally won after emphasizing her record of support for the “Make America Great Again” agenda.
....