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Republicans have a Radical Problem
The GOP has been splintering off for a number of years, but radicalism is on the rise in both political parties; that needs to change.
Trump is impeached – again – and this time… it may be taken seriously. The “insurrection” caused by his hands have many swerving away from his influence, and looking past the Trump era of chaos and “fear.” The Republican Party (or the GOP – Grand Old Party) is heading towards a reckoning, and undergirded by an internal war; possibly imploding into two separate entities altogether. What many witnessed on the steps of the capitol was enough for them to denounce the GOP outright, but farther right radicals are staying the course.
The Republican party has been going through a transformation for many years now. During the George W. Bush administration, he was quoted by saying the “isms” in this country are tearing us a part. He was alluding to the insurgent Tea Party. Nationally, at the time, the GOP was finding the Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney style of Republicanism as ineffective and feckless. Trump lambasted them both in the present and past.
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The next few years are going to be rough for the GOP, especially, with the Georgia Senate race results kicking them down to minority status. Trump has fractured the party into territory it never thought it would be in, but most foresaw. Democrats call the attempt a “coup,” and they are largely correct. People had wrist ties, a noose was resurrected, and “fear” was indeed felt in the halls of congress. The MAGA brand is now associated with capital insurrection and possible treason. Where to next?
“Every rational Republican — and I’ve talked to a whole bunch of them — is saying ‘OK, I get it now,’” said Chad Mayes of Rancho Mirage, who was GOP leader of the Assembly before his own switch, in 2018, from the GOP to No Party Preference.
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About a hundred miles west of Mayes, a conservative activist said she is done with the GOP, but because she believes they have become a deeper part of the establishment. She still fervently supports Trump, and stands firmly behind him, planning rallies since 2016.
Chad Mayes’s phone was blowing up with people saying they were leaving the Republican party, but it wasn’t just Mayes who experienced the wave of GOP rejection. Orange County follows political registration daily and found that after the violence at Washington D.C., they lost eight times more voters than added. While gaining ground among voters in the area the month prior, 600 GOP voters were lost from Wednesday to Thursday, following the events. Cleaving their progress.
Locally, however, the only pushback for congressmen (and other officials) who voted to reject the election results, has come from Democrats. “Their failure to recognize this as a time for unity, is frankly, both inappropriate and disappointing,” said Emily Carlin, Rep. Jay Obernolte’s spokeswoman.
The Inland Empire, and the broader Riverside County area has seen less push back by their constituents then Orange County. Regardless, the GOP as we knew it, is no more.
Republicans did fairly well in the Inland Empire, and has always been a strong enclave for conservative appeal. “We have some pretty darn good Republican representatives in California,” said Jonathan Ingram, a Murrieta councilman and chairman of the Riverside County Republican Party. “The problem is getting people to sit down and talk and resolve issues … We need to sit down and figure out the next steps to heal a country.”
“This is going to hurt the Republican brand, there’s no question,” said Mike Madrid, a veteran Republican strategist who co-founded the Lincoln Project to defeat Trump. “The question is how much, and how lasting, it is going to be.”
Representatives Darrel Issa and Ken Calvert also joined in on the resolution rejecting the 2020 election results, and also experienced blow back. The question for the GOP both nationally and in California is, how do they deal with the radical wing of their party? If, they refuse to see it as a problem, they will only dig themselves into a deeper hole. Radicalism is spurring across party lines, but that does not mean either should be afraid to denounce their own – even if it means losing elections.
You can see more of Troy's articles and analysis on thebullmedia.org
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