Friday, October 14, 2016

Which Republican Party Will Survive?

Donald Trump has captured a substantial core of the Republican Party.  He will lose the election but he has already prepared his base for the defeat.  He has been blaming his eventual defeat on conspiracies against him for several months.  We all know the conspiracies: the election is rigged; the media is biased; the establishment is against him etc. etc.  The only important question remaining after the election is what will Trump do after he loses.  He may try to take over what remains of the Party that has been called Republican for over one hundred years. He may start a new political party, or he may compete with Fox News for the heart and soul of white nationalists and evangelicals.  The implication is that Donald Trump will determine the fate of the Republican Party.  It can't win elections without the millions of voters who have fallen in love with The Donald.  It may be hard for the party to bring them back under its tent without losing credibility with its base of moderate conservatives who believe in its core principles of limited government, low taxes, free trade and a strong military.  That big tent no longer exists.  The market for Trump's supporters has changed.

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