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[Reelya]

I think the Republicans are far too entrenched in literally every single other area of government besides the presidential level for that for its death to be playsible any time soon.

Well it is actually plausible, because a sustained 5% swing against a major party is basically the death knell, because of winner-take-all elections.

It's "expected" that either party will get some swing back in the long run, but that's not at all guaranteed. The thing about a "swing back" is that it actually requires you to embrace the values of the center and the other side. e.g. Democrats embrace free market, tough on crime, etc rhetoric to pull themselves back to the center.

But to be honest at this stage the Republicans have become so radicalized that the very idea of them hewing to center, or saying anything to appeal to e.g. blacks and hispanics without sound cripplingly patronizing is almost laughable. You don't win back votes by doubling-down on extremism.

[RedKing]

Unfortunately, since at least 2008 that's not the lesson that the GOP has taken away from lost elections.

[nenjin]

I think it's pretty clear what Trump's master plan is here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He just has a burning desire to return to the 80s.

The scary thing to me now is that we get a 2nd resurgence of Tea Party-like elements, regardless of whether Trump wins or loses, that guts the remaining strong points of the GOP and the Republicans become mostly represented by their most extreme elements. That or Russians I guess. Truth truly is stranger than fiction.

[RedKing]

Yeah, but if the only ones left are the angry extremists, it's not the Republican Party anymore. If all the pro-business fiscal conservatives have moved on to somewhere else, then what's left is a rump party on the fringe of American politics. Might still bear the Republican name, but be as relevant as the Whigs in 1860 (who had emigrated en masse to the new Republican Party, or to the Know Nothing Party).

Meanwhile, maybe the mainstream Republicans will constitute a new party, or form a centrist/conservative faction of the Democrats (which would potentially have a lot more weight than the progressive wing and tilt the Dems to the right, causing the left wing to cleave off and form a new party).


Or maybe Trump's supporters will rise up en masse after Hillary "steals" the election, and be eradicated by the US military, and the Republican party can return to its normal backwards-but-not-insane ways.

EDIT: Now if Trump wins.....yeesh. Yeah, his knuckledraggers will run the GOP and likely institute a return to the Jacksonian spoils system. And there will be a great thunder, and lo, I will behold the broken seal.

[scriver]

Attila is born!

[martinuzz]

Another part of me suddenly finds that russian connection even more explicable than it previously was, after wondering about the above.

Wow... that's actually like a legit concern.  WTF has this world come to?

They're apparently being careful with the information I guess, and it does cause concern.

The CIA have killed for less, it's a miracle really that Trump is still alive after the first leak about the Saudi Base. I had kinda expected him to disappear before he got a real sensitive info briefing. Then again, I guess that would throw the US into massive rioting if not outright civil war. Maybe that's why they let him live.

If he really is an FSB plant with as mission to gather top secret briefing intel, I can only say, well played.
It would kinda explain why Trump doesn't seem too bothered by the unfavourable polls. Mission already accomplished.

[Reelya]

Apparently the Trump connection is even too much for former Breitbart employees.

[smirk]

Also expect to see the GOP pull the ripcord and desert Trump in droves, and funnel their money to down-ballot races.

According to PEC, this is the reason that one Republican guy announced his run last week:

This is where Evan McMullin, who even political junkies may not know, comes in. McMullin stepped down as chief policy director of the House Republican caucus to run for President. He’s an insider. I’m certain he is not running because he expects to become President. Instead, he’s probably trying to give Republican voters a reason to turn out. If he can get even a small number of Republican voters to show up who otherwise wouldn’t, that might be enough to save a seat. Increase that, and he could put a sizable dent in Democratic gains.

To put it quantitatively: an increase of 1% in the GOP vote share nationally translates to about 6 House seats*. McMullin would only need to make a modest showing in marginal districts to make an impact.

Mind you I haven't heard anything at all from the guy sinced he announced his candidacy, so it might just be a flop.

[mainiac]

The problem is he is nobody. You would need a big name like Romney or McCain

[smjjames]

His new team seems to be embracing the 'Rabbit races the Tortoise' parable to heart and embracing the slow but steady Tortoise (vs the lazy rabbit who took a nap when he thought he was ahead) because his new campaign chair has said that she wants to (or would rather) lag behind in the polls. Time will tell if that's crazy genius strategy or just cray cray.

Also, despite what the pundits say, Trump is being so sexist with the 'she doesn't have the physical stamina to be president', uh-huh. and being Seceretary of State for four years doesn't qualify? Pretty sure being Seceretary of State is on par with being President as far as stamina goes.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It is only a matter of time until the return of the menstruation jokes, oh, I mean the "whatever" jokes. Then the campaign will have truly started.

[Frumple]

Part of me wants to go "what is menopause" to that, but a different part of me is tapping that part on the shoulder and reminding it we're talking about a republican candidate, here. Grotesque ignorance of female biology is to be expected.

Either that or they think clinton's báthory reincarnated or somethin' and is somehow still going through that sort of thing. Have they been reporting on mysterious disappearances of young virgin women along clinton's campaign trail? Kinda' like it'd actually be something you'd hear on a particularly deranged talk radio episode, really...

[Starver]

mysterious disappearances of young virgin women

...or young women's virginities...

[Frumple]

Man, if they were managing to collect enough blood to fill up bathtubs through that method, I'm pretty sure it'd be on the news. It would have been hard to miss those headlines.

[mainiac]

Virgins only bleed if you are unarousing... clintons don't have that problem.