Is there a GOP civil war? No, not really. Maybe there was during the 2016 primaries, where it was truly a bloodbath. The populist wave crashed the party, and it became Donald Trump’s overnight. Years of disconnect between the party leadership and the base, especially on issues of trade and immigration, lead to this populist moment. And it’s not scary, fellow Republicans. Trumpism and the traditional conservative Republican agenda overlap on defense, jobs, the economy, regulations, and the scope of government. The only difference maybe is the delivery. The squishy Republican establishment either caves or leaves DC. They roll over. The Trump wing fights — and that led to a massive political upset in 2016.
In 2020, Trump received the most votes of any incumbent president in history. I won’t go into the voter fraud issues. You all know them, but as we now look to the defenses, the RINO establishment should tread carefully. This isn’t your party anymore. Yes, you have money, but you can’t buy your way back in now. We’re done with the Romney-Ryan days. And if they think they can just ignore the base again, they should know they risk losing the core of the Republican Party. There’s talk about Trump forming his own political party. Right now, almost half of the GOP would defect if that were to happen (via The Blaze):
Nearly half of Trump supporters — 46% — said they would abandon the GOP if Trump created his own political party, according to a new Suffolk University-USA Today poll released over the weekend.
In fact, only 27% of respondents said they would stay with the Republican Party, while the remaining percentage of respondents said they are undecided.
"We feel like Republicans don't fight enough for us, and we all see Donald Trump fighting for us as hard as he can, every single day," a Wisconsin business owner told USA Today. "But then you have establishment Republicans who just agree with establishment Democrats and everything, and they don't ever push back."
Meanwhile, half of the respondents said the Republican Party should be "more loyal to Trump," and fewer than 20% said the GOP should jettison loyalty to the former president.
Another poll released earlier this month found that 64% of registered Republicans would abandon the GOP for a Trump-created third-party.
That’s quite a shot across the bow. That’s a shift that just isn’t going away. Sorry, Lincoln Project, Trumpism is here to stay — and you just exposed yourselves for being nothing more than Democrats. If you disagree, that’s fine. But I would never side with the Democrats because my side lost a primary. But they have John Weaver issues right now or maybe not since that scandal, in which Weaver, The Lincoln Project co-founder, had a series of highly inappropriate communications with dozens of young men. The Lincoln Project folks knew but needed to keep rolling in the cash. Yeah, these are the anti-Trump Republicans fighting for the soul and character of the GOP. Pathetic.
Yet, while I probably wouldn’t flinch at dumping the GOP for a new Trump-led party, there is an issue here. First, and we’ve said this before, this move will only help Democrats. It will split the conservative vote to the point where Democrats would be assured an electoral win. Also, why bother starting from scratch when you have made considerable inroads into the GOP? The renovation project is not yet done, yes — but there is a high chance of success that Trumpism will continue to take root and transform the GOP. The squishes don’t fight. They just have money, which means they can tread water for a bit, but will never land any real punches here. They have no feeling when it comes to going for the jugular. Think Mitt Romney. They think being the better person will earn them protection and brownie points with the media. It won’t; Democrats and the media hate them as well. Stay the course. Stay within the GOP and root out the weak RINO cancer from within. Trump wouldn’t have won the nomination in 2016 if this wing was that powerful. The house needs a good gutting, but that’s already happening. Don’t abandon the remodel here. It’s a process. Find good candidates in the Trump mold and watch the party change. It already has.