Is This the Death of the GOP?
On a cool October day in 2016, I sat with two colleagues and discussed the presidential election. As people who regularly engaged in politics, we were concerning ourselves with the larger impact of the election of Trump as the GOP candidate. Far ahead of our time, we wondered, was this the death of the GOP?
Fast forward four years, and here we are. Make no mistake, Trump did not destroy the GOP. Members of the party contributed to its continual decline over decades. Over the past four years, in particular, the enabling of Trump’s policies and refusal to follow government norms have eroded the values on which the party was constructed.
Typical Republican platforms of past decades would include decreasing the national deficit, protecting family values, and supporting the military. Now, the Republican party seems to care nothing about the deficit. In fact, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the 2020 deficit is the largest since 1945. As well, the party has separated immigrant families at the border and locked children in cages. Lastly, Trump has called those in the military “suckers” and “losers” which clearly is not supportive of their sacrifices.
Never-Trumpers from 2016 have taken the lead in creating a cause for conservatives and moderates alike. The Lincoln Project whose goal this year was to defeat Trump and whose motto is…
