Some have suggested that "traditional" Republicans break away from the GOP and

[Atticus]

start their own new party. If they do, I have the perfect mascot for them: the ostrich. Like the big bird that responds to trouble by hiding his head in the sand, these folks have trouble even acknowledging obvious dangers, let alone dealing with them.

Trump was widely known to be an incurious self-centered buffoon even before he rode down that escalator spouting racist tripe. The traditional---"good"---Republicans responded to his candidacy by sniffing and looking the other way.

Trump bragged about his repeated sexual assaults of women in a tape repeatedly played every day for weeks. The "good" Republicans said "tsk-tsk, but---her emails!"

Trump referred to neo-nazis and white supremacists as fine people. The "good" Republicans said "So?"

Trump kidnapped children and even babies and kept them in cold, filthy, crowded cages. "Good" Republicans compared the conditions to summer camp.

Trump has told over 12,000 lies since his inauguration. The "good" Republicans say "Wha-a-a?"

On second thought, maybe the ostrich isn't so appropriate. "In the sand" is not where "good" Republicans have stuck their heads these past three years.

[The Genealogist]

1. I don't think they'll break away and form any new parties

ostrich mascots or otherwise. They are a passel of racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic bigots and pawns for the filthy rich. He is just like them, just sans filter. They are only uncomfortable with him because he says out loud what they dog whistle.

[42bambi]

2. "In the sand" is not where "good" Republicans have stuck their heads these past three years.

have stuck their heads these past three years.
Ha!
I was having a visual that was hard to shake! I'm OK now though.

[TEB]

3. I often wonder

How they can fit all their heads in his rump at once.

[BlueTsunami2018]

4. They can't.

I mean they obviously could but splitting the party like that means this is the last chance they’ll ever have to pack the courts, push tax cuts and do the other “normal” horrible things they want to do. It would spell political doom for the right wing bowel movement. They’ll suffer anything to keep that alive.

[Freethinker65]

5. Traditional Republicans should put the country first and vote for the Democratic nominee this cycle.

Regain control of their party and then systematically clean house of Trump over country loyalists.

I said "should" as I am not expecting that to happen.

[randr]

6. They don't have a single qualified candidate

This is one reason Trump took over so easy

[Zambero]

7. I would yield to them those three mystical monkeys

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Turning a blind eye to evil has long-term consequences, not merely for the many victims but to perpetrators and enablers as well.

[Hortensis]

8. Where is talk of this? Of course by definition, if some

did do that they would no longer be ostriches but activists.

[Atticus]

10. Max Boot, ( in a Mother Jones interview by David Corn ) called for his party to be

"burned to the ground" and a new center-right arty "built from the ashes".

[Hortensis]

11. Hmm. Thanks, Atticus. I'll be watching for more.

[keithbvadu2]

9. Some falsely deny that Trump is a republican

Some falsely deny that Trump is a republican

Selected as a republican at the republican convention.
Ran as a republican.
Elected as a republican by the EC.
Acknowledged as the republican leader.

Certainly not an old style republican with morals, honor, ethics and integrity.
Those folks are gone.

But he's a republican.

[Zambero]

12. Opportunist first. Republican second.

Trump lacks any long-term political affiliation and also does not display evidence of any long-held political views. At various times he's posed as a "moderate" Republican, Democrat, Independent, and Reform Party member. Indeed, he flirted running as a Democrat as recently as 2004, including an overture to Jesse Ventura as a potential running mate. That year he endorsed John Kerry in the general election. It's not so much a question of "go figure" as much as Trump coldly calculating which political affiliation would serve to benefit him the most personally. He comes first, and any convenient self-serving ideological stance follows. The white nationalist backlash against President Obama spawned Trump's birther conspiracy and sowed the seeds of his "base". At that point, the Republican party was his only option. He doesn't give a shit about the party, only about how it can serve his own selfish interests and inflated ego. Ironically, the GOP's enabling and submissive "embrace" of Trump could also be it's downfall, given its willingness to morph from mainstream conservatism into the Party of Trump and all the negative baggage that continues to pile up since that transition.

[NastyRiffraff]

13. Are there any left?

Take Lindsey Graham (please!). He used to be considered a moderate Republican. He in fact loathed Trump and was very vocal about it. Then came a golf game, and a very sudden, very complete turnaround. Threat? Blackmail? We don't know and may never know, but something definitely happened to make Graham do a complete about-face.

How many other "moderate" Republicans have faced the same threat, blackmail, etc? Trump fancies himself as a mob-like boss. He talks like one, even down to his (limited) vocabulary and accent. These people are frightened and they don't know how to break free. Like the Stockholm Syndrome, they apparently no longer want to.

So no, they're not about to start another party. They still think of themselves as good, traditional Republicans, against all evidence. They still think that party exists.

[NCLefty]

14. Nope. 99.99% folded like cheap suits when Trump won the nomination.

All that talk was just hot air.

There's no constituency for the old GOP now. Republicans want and now even expect daily Twitter wars (to own the libs and their enemies) and monthly loyalty rallies. No one else can feed them that other than President Asshole.