How many traditional Republican voters will split their votes between a Trump alternative and the Republicans farther down the ballot? How many of them will just stay home? It looks like we are seeing an unprecedented surge in turnout among Democratic constituencies. Are we going to get an outcome more like ’06 and ’08? Will this surge be large enough to threaten Republicans who hold strong leads in the polls, like McCain and Rubio?
Failing to address what white racial and cultural supremacy means, especially to whites lower down the economic ladder, creates a risk. Without some wider cultural replacement, we may settle in to a long era of racially Balkanized politics, in which voting behavior is dictated by loyalty to identity rather than any serious discussion of policy.
Today Josh Barro posted an explanation of decision to leave the Republican Party. For those you who followed GOPLifer, a lot of what he has to say will sound familiar. His childhood background with the party, his acceptance that Trump is a sort of proto-Fascist, and his disgust with the “sane” Republicans who have sold their souls for power are themes that ring true to many new ex-Republicans.
These people deserve to get what they are asking for, but unfortunately we would all have to share the hell they would create. Go vote. It’s the only way to stop them.
Let’s be honest – none of these revelations about Donald Trump, if they had emerged in February instead of October, would have changed the outcome of the primary. Republicans wanted a racist, sexist pig as their champion. They got exactly what they wanted.
One of the highest priorities when thinking about a new blog platform was an ability to support a forum. The comments section at GOPLifer generated fantastic content. With a better-organized platform those discussions could have room to expand and could continue long after new posts drew attention away from an older comment thread.
In the coming Congress, a surviving remnant of relatively rational Republicans like Mia Love, John Katko and Barbara Comstock will be handed remarkable power. They will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to crack open our two-party monolith by forming a parliamentary coalition with centrist Democrats. Congressmen like John Katko could potentially hand the Speaker’s gavel to a Democrat, opening the door to a new era of multi-party, or rather “sub-party” politics in America.
This Southern culture, one of America’s greatest gems, can be truly ours with all that goes with it if we recognize our kinship and confront our history with open eyes. We can be the first generation of Southerners, liberated from white and black, from fear and violence; the first generation of Southerners to truly breathe free. This is no mirage. That legacy is waiting for us. It is ours for the taking.