The next Civil War

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

On reflection, I think a civil war in the event of a Trump loss is inevitable. It won't be a civil war in the usual sense, but an internal one within the Republican Party. While Trump is clearly in control right now, a loss in November is going to finish him as a political force, since the message will be clear that MAGA is a brand that cannot win. I look to see the GOP fracture into at least two (possibly more) parties - the MAGAts and more traditional Republicans (remember those?).

Boru

I read exactly this line of reasoning in an op-ed on The Hill yesterday. In part:

That aside, a Trump loss inevitably means an internal civil war within the Republican Party. I believe a “war” is inevitable between the all-powerful Trump forces and those who want to move on from the Trump era and win the White House in 2028 without any Trump family members on the ticket.

Like all civil wars, this one could be brutal, because the GOP opposition forces see in Trumpism a political dead-end with a shrinking voter base. I publicly left the Republican Party Jan. 2021 thanks to Trump’s toxic brand. Today, identifying as a Republican is not about conservative governing principles but automatic loyalty to Trump, with his MAGA troops in control of the party machinery from top to bottom.

In 2016, the “Trumplican Party” was born (some would say “hijacked.”) After Trump’s unexpected victory, Republican Party leaders and activists who initially supported someone other than Trump were purged, resigned in disgust or else acquiesced to him.

After Trump’s loss in 2020, it became an act of disloyalty for Republicans to deny that Trump actually won reelection. So did the failure to defend or excuse his actions on Jan. 6 or his legal problems. So did the act of backing an alternative 2024 candidate.

To have one family in complete control of a major national political party is an aberration in our country. Daughter-in-law Lara Trump, installed as co-chair of the Republican National Committee in March, naively spoke the truth in February when she said of its fundraising, “Every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC — that is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States…”

Naturally, down-ballot candidates, officeholders and lowly party officials did not appreciate her honesty about the family mission.

The author goes on to suggest that if the Trumps are overthrown within the party, Kinzinger would be the natural leader to put the party back together. I'm not so sure I buy that.

ETA:  

^ Other people agree with you. As long as the leopards only eat other's faces...
Civil War

That's the same op-ed I quote above, yes.

I promise I thought of it on my own. For realzies.

Boru