Donald Trump is the worst of the 13 presidents who have served since the end of World War II, 41 percent of American voters say, followed by 21 percent who list Barack Obama and 10 percent who cite Richard Nixon, in a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. Quinnipiac
So. The liberal wing of the Democrat Party is as unpopular as ever, but this country is even less fond of the Populist Wing of the Republican Party. I accept that President Donald Trump is, in fact, the leader of the populist/nationalist wing of the Republican Party. I am forced to admit that this wing of the party exists and is more powerful than ever.
Steven Stark lamented, in February of 1996, that “it is one of the ironies of American political history that the vanquished in presidential campaigns often end up altering our politics more than the victors.” This ought to have been true of one Donald J. Trump – but it wasn’t.
Presidents George W. & H.W. Bush are smiling up from Texas. Senator McCain and future-Senator Romney are quizzically watching from the distant shores of the exiled Establishment Wing of the national Republican Party.
Pick A Side
We Republicans need to figure out where we stand and decide what we want. It would appear that the two most powerful factions within the Republican Party are the moderate, Wall-Street establishment and the populist-nationalist TEA Party wings. The old Establishment has been forced to spend a fortune to retain control over a majority of Republican Legislation…legislation that President Trump has gladly signed to the fury of progressive and liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, the populist-nationalist TEA Party movement has gained control of the blogosphere and social media. Even this media.
In a battle of #fakeoutrage vs. #fakenews, it’s the Republican Party that has lost and is likely to continue to lose.
I believe that the Romney/McCain and Trump factions are doomed to failure for a myriad of reasons, the least of which is that each has proven to so divisively divide the party itself. Hillary Clinton won’t always be around to save us from oblivion.
The truth is, this Republican Party will never choose the populists or the corporatists over the other. Each wing of the party has their die-hard sycophants, but neither side will ever compromise with the other and neither side will ever consider productive, pragmatic, or practical strategies that could compromise their diametric domestic opposition to their opponents.
Our bases will not compromise. They will not unite. They will not ever get along.
Abandon Them
Moderates, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Pragmatists, and Philosophers have a choice. Abandon our lesser-evils for principles or continue to support candidates we hate for the sheer spite of opposing candidates we hate slightly more. It’s that simple. Do you still hate everyone that supported Eric Cantor? Still hate everyone that backed Dave Brat? That’s so 2014.
Are you still living in a pro-Trump v. anti-Trump world? Stop it.
President Trump will deliver the Republican Party the same goods Obama delivered the Democrats in 2010. That’s what populism does. It creates anti-populist movements.
If the Democrats moderate, we lose.
This goes against every instinct they have, but it could happen. It probably will happen. We could see a strong, moderate, thoughtful, experienced and qualified Democrat in 2020. They won’t throw a Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton at us twice. We aren’t that lucky. (Yo, Blue Virginia, if you prove me wrong, I’ll buy you a beer!)
What kind of Republican Party do you want in 2020? 2024? 2028? 2032? These elections aren’t as far off as you might imagine. We’re almost there.
Are the divisive politics of E.W. Jackson and Corey Stewart going to build a Republican Party worth supporting in ten years or are they capable of manufacturing a victorious Republican Party in November? Of course not. The supporters of E.W. Jackson and Corey Stewart have a place in this Party, but it isn’t the blood-thirsty victory they imagine or hope for. They aren’t going to weed out the establishment by burning the party to the ground. All they’ll do is humiliate those of us who think and remain associated with the party.
Let’s not be depressed in November. Let’s nominate someone 51% of Virginia can be proud of.
The Wall Street Crowd is going to have to embrace brilliant free-marketeers. The populists are going to have to embrace candidates that don’t cannibalize their own. It’s going to be hard, but it has to happen, or else the moderates and the populists are going to ensure three hundred years of Democrat representation in the Commonwealth.
Right now, we’re our own worst enemy.
