After this election, where can the Republican party go from here?
Ok other than to hell.
I am asking this purely in terms of political science - need to dust off that useless degree every now and then. I am seriously just throwing this out there for political discussion. Is our 2 party system finally going to give way?
Each election cycle I think "ok that's it, the Republican party is going to implode" and each time they come back crazier than ever. And I am from the state that produce Michele Bachman. We have all known that racists, misogynists, homophobes and anti-intellectuals exist and that they have been drawn to the right. But holy shit, this year not only are they being acknowledged by the GOP, they are being embraced and extolled. People used to hide their bigotry - now they wear it with pride. And now that we all know they exist, they exist in large numbers and sadly they vote - what do we do with them? The fanatics that follow people like Palin, Huckabee and Trump - they will never come to their senses. There is nothing that can be said about Trump (just like nothing could be said about Palin) that will turn them against their "chosen" one. And the GOP isn't backing away from them - you would think after the disaster of Palin or Todd Akin, they would steer clear of extremists. Instead, like Trump, they are doubling down. They will say anything to pander to these wackos and get their vote.
Now you may think "who cares - this is Democratic Underground, the Repukes can go f*&^ themselves" and normally I would agree with you.
But a void is being created - there are people who believe in small government and a strong capitalist economy who aren't on the crazy train of extreme social conservatism. And just like liberal Dems are getting all fired up and wanting to move the party away from the center (ok a little right of center) and back to the left, some of those centrist Dems are going to get left out.
I just can't see a future GOP in its current incarnation. Will a 3rd party come about that absorbs the centrist Dems who think someone like Sanders is too radical and the sane Republicans who can't take the circus anymore?
Or will it just go back to politics as usual? I just feel like this year, more than any other election year, we have really uncovered and freed the ugly and the stupid and there is no way of pushing them back into hiding.
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