The Republican Party cannot blame the media's positive reaction to Vice President Kamala Harris for the downturn in their fortunes, wrote National Review executive editor Mark Antonio Wright. Rather, their problem begins with the fact that they "picked a bad candidate" to lead the ticket.The Nationa...
I don’t think this is a good thing. While the current form of conservatism was kind of started by Trump via whatever horrible things he was saying, it’s a pandora’s box that was opened and will probably never be closed again as long as there’s an audience to the talking points. If Trump were to become effectively disowned by conservatives, they’re likely going to replace him with someone even worse (someone like Mike Johnson or any other christian fundamentalist) which is the true horror.
Also remember - all this talk from conservatives about Trump being a “bad candidate” is not because his policies or project 2025 are bad, it’s only because he’s no longer that popular.
Let them replace Trump with somebody even worse. They will get beat at the ballot box too.
Hahaha, yeah let them try.
The thing is, trump was a unique breed of asshole, he has no shame, he said the quiet part out loud because there was no doubt in his mind that he is doing something wrong.
GOP has never had an alternative to that, it’s actually why he became president. He brought a useful energy that no one else could produce.
It’s just how cults of personality work, they die with the figurehead until someone else could match or surpass that energy.
But I feel like Trump has both narcissism and charisma which make people believe what he says.
If Johnson had to take over, he’d spit lies and christofascist stuff but I doubt people would see him as “our new Jesus” as MAGA people see Trump. Idk if I explained myself clearly
It’s not quite that simple, though. Trump took control of the party, and the people who were in control before him or who wish they were in control now, those people might not be happy with their loss of personal power.
They also know, as we know, that being overtly racist and sexist is probably not going to win the hearts of the majority of Americans. In the past and today, many conservative candidates have pushed racist and sexist policies but they’ve been less conspicuous about doing so, and that let them maintain some semblance of decency to some percent of the voting population. With Trump or anyone of his style at the helm, it’s much harder for people to deny the horror.
Finally, it’s certainly true that many conservative politicians don’t agree with some aspects of Project 2025. The problem they have had in the Trump cult era is that they didn’t dare say anything that would go against their fearless leader.
Having written all of that, Republicans who are only finally speaking out now are showing us that they prioritized personal political survival over everything else, and I don’t have much respect for that.