Future of GOP looks bleak with Trump in White House

What is the ultimate future of the GOP? That is a question that’s definitely worth considering, especially with Trump continuing to squat in the White House. Can the Republican Party, which has been a major force in American politics since the days of Abraham Lincoln, ultimately survive the Age of Trump? Sadly, I think the answer is “No.”

   Why take such a pessimistic view? After all, we’ve had “bad” Republicans before. Both Richard Nixon and George W. Bush spring immediately to mind. We’ve survived them. Heck, we even survived Nixon, who was shown to be complicit in a criminal coverup and one of the worst scandals in American history — Watergate. So why shouldn’t we, and by extension, the Republican Party, survive Trump?

   To begin with, Trump is different from any president we’ve ever had — and not in a good way. Never have we had a president who lies so egregiously and so frequently. There’s an old joke that goes, “How do you know when a politician is lying?” Answer: His mouth is moving. But with Trump, it’s no joke. It is literal truth. It seems that every time he opens his mouth, Trump lies. He simply can’t help himself. And Trump doesn’t just lie about big things. He lies about small things, too. Worse, he engages in total flights of fantasy, wild-eyed conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact, much less truth. This is the man, after all, who spent eight years questioning Barack Obama’s American citizenship and demanding to see his birth certificate. 

   Trump is also the most amoral president we’ve ever had. It’s not just that he is immoral. Heck, Bill Clinton was immoral. Trump simply has NO morals. Zero. Trump is the first person to occupy the White House in my memory who simply has no core beliefs at all. He simply spouts whatever moral platitudes that will make him popular, or that will further whatever twisted agenda he is trying to advance. He is, simply put, a con man.

   Trump is a racist and a misogynist. He is a malignant narcissist who is totally incapable of empathy. This is bad enough, and it makes him a vile, disgusting human being. But what makes it worse is that he has normalized these vile traits and galvanized the scum in our society who hold these beliefs, also.

   So why is the Republican Party ultimately doomed? Because they have, thus far, refused to do anything about the cancer who is Trump. In fact, they have done everything in their power to prop him up. They have, as a party, supported his vile views and his dangerous agenda. They have sold the soul of their party in the name of absolute power and laid bare the hypocrisy inherent in decades of moral pronouncements. How can Republicans come back from that? How can they reclaim their moral integrity and move the party back from the political fringes toward the middle, where the majority of Americans reside? Simply put, they can’t.
   The best hope the GOP has at this point is that the more moderate and thoughtful among their membership will be able to wrest control from the radicals who are now controlling the party. Firebrands like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, former Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina and yes, even Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close friend of the great John McCain, need to be drummed from the party, or at the very least marginalized so they don’t exercise quite so much influence. Until the adults in the room manage to reassert control and guide the party back toward the political mainstream, I don’t see the Republican Party being much more than a fringe party in future years, if it doesn’t just die altogether. That would truly be a tragedy.