Less and less in favor of the rule of law and democracy, the Republican Party of the United States has become a populist sect ready to do anything to seize and retain power.
Aligned with Trump, the party has now given up on addressing all Americans and aiming only to please its undereducated, under-informed base, but motivated by evangelistic fervor.
In its current state, the Republican Party is no longer an acceptable alternative to the Democratic Party.
Under Trump’s rule, the Grand Old Party is a threat to democracy. It still enjoys the support of at least 60 million Americans, taking into account a slight decline in popularity since Jan.6.
Beat the Trumpists
What to do ? Patriotic Republicans are going to have to work hard to demolish their own party, which is now an extremist populist formation, a North American incarnation of the European fascist parties of the last century.
I wonder if there are enough brave, upright, and determined people among Tories and Republicans to purge the GOP of Trumpists and Trumpidiots. And, unable to do so, to create a new party in the tradition of Lincoln.
In any case, more than a hundred American conservatives have just started discussions with a view to forming an anti-Trump movement.
It would bring together elected officials and executives from the last four republican administrations, as well as party leaders at national and state levels.
The Patriotic Alliance in each constituency would support an opponent of Trump in the Republican primaries. And in the event that the Trump supporter wins the Republican nomination, all the anti-Trump people in the constituency would then be called upon to rally behind a single candidate, Democratic or Independent, to defeat the Trumpian candidate.
Young people, women and money flee the republicans
The Republican Party is heading for months of fratricidal struggles that will see their outcome in next year’s elections.
Trump’s intervention in the 2022 Republican primaries will further accentuate the tensions tearing the party apart. Maybe until the break.
According to a recent poll, a third of Republicans would join Trump if he formed his own political party. Trump’s acquittal allows him to run in 2024.
The Republican Main Street Partnership, which is on a mission to restore “ethics and morals” to the GOP, plans to spend $ 25 million to promote Republican anti-Trump candidacies.
Already, many pro-Republican companies have pledged to stop funding Trump’s allies, cutting them off from a critical revenue stream.
The “Trump effect” will particularly hurt Republicans in states and electoral districts where struggles are fierce. It scares moderates, educated voters and women away from the GOP.
The Republican Party is also losing the generation of 18-21 year olds who, repelled by Trump, register as Democrats. And that’s without counting the revelations that could further tarnish Trump’s reputation and splash the party.