I tend to view a lot of stuff through the lens of UK Political History because it's my hobby for some reason and this just depresses me. In 1980 following the

I tend to view a lot of stuff through the lens of UK Political History because it's my hobby for some reason and this just depresses me. In 1980 following the defeat of James Callaghan by Thatcher, the Labour party was essentially entering a state of civil war between the left and right of the party wherein the left of the party were changing the rules of the leadership election to better benefit themselves by making it more democratic. As a f you to that wing of the party, James Callaghan called for a leadership election under the old rules, in which the leader was chosen exclusively by the Parliamentary Labour Party. The two main candidates ended up shaking out to be Denis Healey from the right wing which was more the consistency of the PLP, and Michael Foot from the left wing which was more the consistency of the unions and core membership. In the end, Michael Foot won narrowly, not because the actual PLP believed that Michael Foot was actually the man to beat Thatcher in the next election, but partially so they could go home to their left wing constituents and say "Look comrade! I'm a good socialist! Please don't deselect me!". The immediate result of this was in 1983 they almost became the 3rd most popular party in the country behind a bunch of pro Europe ex Callaghan cabinet people who abandoned Labour to make their own party. I am extremely worried that this is the direction Repubs are flying, and extremely annoyed that they weren't smart enough to reinforce against it.