5 ms·

I'm not sure if it's just a vocal minority, but it sure seems to be the Party of Trump, no longer the Republican Party.

excalibur 5y ago
I could see a Trump party on the right, a Yang party on the left, and a third party right down the middle full of disenfranchised moderates from both sides of the aisle
- TomSwirly 5y ago
  Yang is not a leftist. He's not even left of the Democratic party, and they aren't a left-wing party. There's a simple litmus test. Do you think workers should control the means of production? You're a socialist. Do you think capital should? You're a capitalist. The Republicans, Yang, and the Democrats are all capitalist parties.
  - willcipriano 5y ago
    Human beings are really funny. Ask someone in a neighborhood about how many houses should be built and virtually all of them will tell you that theirs should have been the last one. Ask someone about what is left and right in politics and they will move the middle around so they aren't either on the far left or right. As if their personal political opinions are some sort of core fundamental property that the universe is organized around. Looking back in history, humans did the same thing with the solar system. We just tend to assume that we are at the middle of things.
dsr_ 5y ago
All the Republican Party needs is for DJT to die of natural causes, so that candidates can quibble over who is the true inheritor of his mantle. Eight years after that the name of Trump will be invoked as a meaningless benediction the way that Reagan is used now.
- krapp 5y ago
  >All the Republican Party needs is for DJT to die of natural causes, so that candidates can quibble over who is the true inheritor of his mantle I think Trump stopped being a viable figurehead for his own movement once the stop-the-steal movement and insurrection failed to prevent Biden's election, and date after date after date for Trump's triumphant return passed without incident. Republicans are going to have to move on from him either way.
  - warning26 5y ago
    Unlikely; the republicans worship Trump in a way wholly distinct from past presidents (except possibly Reagan) I'm not even certain his death would put a stop to the cult of personality that has arose around him.
    - UncleOxidant 5y ago
      Pretty sure they'd nominate Jr if anything happened to Sr.
  - pstuart 5y ago
    It's hard to forecast this. Trump supporters are effectively a cult, and every time something came along that made me think "ok, this time he's done it" (e.g., shooting someone on 5th Ave, which he was correct in his assessment), I've been proven wrong. We are still in uncharted waters.
    - rayiner 5y ago
      Nope. They represent the economically moderate, culturally conservative segment of the population. (Fun fact: if you put Germany’s CDU’s positions into NYT’s political party poll, you end up in Trump’s Patriot Party: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/08/opinion/republicans-democrats-parties.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/08/opinion/repub....
      - 5y ago
runako 5y ago
This is the case with every party when it doesn't have the presidency. The Democrats spent the Bush years as the Party of Clinton and the Trump years as the Party of Obama. The head of the party (e.g. their last President) continues to set the party tone & agenda until the party wins the White House again.
BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago
I do not know why you are being downvoted so, but I know a lot of republicans. They adore Donald Trump and have contempt for the GOP leaders who did not “stand up for him” after the election. There is a real sense of anger at the Republican establishment. I know people who literally mailed back RNC donation solicitation envelopes coated in slurs and swear words after the election.
- q1w2 5y ago
  I have a large number of GOP voters that voted for Biden because they believe Trump is an idiot. My opinion is that the party will reform under someone new. Trump is too old at this point to be relevant beyond 2024.
rayiner 5y ago
Trump is 50% of the Republican Party, but that wing is bigger than Trump. In polls where Trump isn’t running, De Santis picks up most of Trump’s votes: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/14/desantis-poll-2024-president-499670 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/14/desantis-poll-2024-... The establishment Republican leadership is unpopular for pretty much the reasons Democrats have been saying for 20 years: the base is much more fiscally moderate and cared more about social and cultural issues than the leadership.
hakfoo 5y ago
Personally, I wonder if it's less "party of Trump" and more "party of Winning". A lot of Social Conservative policy is terrible for business (How much money was lost by states chasing those 'Bathroom Bill' regulations?). A lot of pro-business/Fiscal Conservative policy is difficult to square with traditional moral values (You want a traditional household with a full-time parent, but can't figure out that low wages make it impossible?) Both factions seem willing to ignore this because they know they can win elections by their combined might. I suspect if you look at it, you'll see that the party platform has become progressively more narrowly focused and sloganized as a result of that. Focusing on abortion and gay marriage to the exclusion of any more nuanced social issues throws a bone to the morality crowd without having to let them ask "isn't unconstrained billionaire greed a sin?" Simplifying all financial policy to "taxes bad" is pro-business but not as offensive to the morals crowd as admitting "systemic racism is probably leaving a lot of money and productivity on the table" I suspect backing Trump is just further reaction on that scale. It worked once in dramatic style (they won an election largely seen a formality) so they're doubling down on it. However, I'll say the same thing applies to a degree on the Democratic side, in a variant form. They've decided to go for "broad appeal" rather than "a few specific silo niches", which results in milk-toast moderate candidates that can't possibly offend anyone. What's interesting is that any electoral success for either of these paradigms just reinforces them, but any failure never seems to cause rethink.

I could see a Trump party on the right, a Yang party on the left, and a third party right down the middle full of disenfranchised moderates from both sides of the aisle

TomSwirly 5y ago
Yang is not a leftist. He's not even left of the Democratic party, and they aren't a left-wing party. There's a simple litmus test. Do you think workers should control the means of production? You're a socialist. Do you think capital should? You're a capitalist. The Republicans, Yang, and the Democrats are all capitalist parties.
- willcipriano 5y ago
  Human beings are really funny. Ask someone in a neighborhood about how many houses should be built and virtually all of them will tell you that theirs should have been the last one. Ask someone about what is left and right in politics and they will move the middle around so they aren't either on the far left or right. As if their personal political opinions are some sort of core fundamental property that the universe is organized around. Looking back in history, humans did the same thing with the solar system. We just tend to assume that we are at the middle of things.

dsr_ 5y ago

All the Republican Party needs is for DJT to die of natural causes, so that candidates can quibble over who is the true inheritor of his mantle. Eight years after that the name of Trump will be invoked as a meaningless benediction the way that Reagan is used now.

krapp 5y ago
>All the Republican Party needs is for DJT to die of natural causes, so that candidates can quibble over who is the true inheritor of his mantle I think Trump stopped being a viable figurehead for his own movement once the stop-the-steal movement and insurrection failed to prevent Biden's election, and date after date after date for Trump's triumphant return passed without incident. Republicans are going to have to move on from him either way.
- warning26 5y ago
  Unlikely; the republicans worship Trump in a way wholly distinct from past presidents (except possibly Reagan) I'm not even certain his death would put a stop to the cult of personality that has arose around him.
  - UncleOxidant 5y ago
    Pretty sure they'd nominate Jr if anything happened to Sr.
- pstuart 5y ago
  It's hard to forecast this. Trump supporters are effectively a cult, and every time something came along that made me think "ok, this time he's done it" (e.g., shooting someone on 5th Ave, which he was correct in his assessment), I've been proven wrong. We are still in uncharted waters.
  - rayiner 5y ago
    Nope. They represent the economically moderate, culturally conservative segment of the population. (Fun fact: if you put Germany’s CDU’s positions into NYT’s political party poll, you end up in Trump’s Patriot Party: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/08/opinion/republicans-democrats-parties.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/08/opinion/repub....
    - 5y ago

runako 5y ago

This is the case with every party when it doesn't have the presidency. The Democrats spent the Bush years as the Party of Clinton and the Trump years as the Party of Obama. The head of the party (e.g. their last President) continues to set the party tone & agenda until the party wins the White House again.

BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago

I do not know why you are being downvoted so, but I know a lot of republicans. They adore Donald Trump and have contempt for the GOP leaders who did not “stand up for him” after the election. There is a real sense of anger at the Republican establishment. I know people who literally mailed back RNC donation solicitation envelopes coated in slurs and swear words after the election.

q1w2 5y ago
I have a large number of GOP voters that voted for Biden because they believe Trump is an idiot. My opinion is that the party will reform under someone new. Trump is too old at this point to be relevant beyond 2024.

rayiner 5y ago

Trump is 50% of the Republican Party, but that wing is bigger than Trump. In polls where Trump isn’t running, De Santis picks up most of Trump’s votes: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/14/desantis-poll-2024-president-499670 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/14/desantis-poll-2024-... The establishment Republican leadership is unpopular for pretty much the reasons Democrats have been saying for 20 years: the base is much more fiscally moderate and cared more about social and cultural issues than the leadership.

hakfoo 5y ago

Personally, I wonder if it's less "party of Trump" and more "party of Winning". A lot of Social Conservative policy is terrible for business (How much money was lost by states chasing those 'Bathroom Bill' regulations?). A lot of pro-business/Fiscal Conservative policy is difficult to square with traditional moral values (You want a traditional household with a full-time parent, but can't figure out that low wages make it impossible?) Both factions seem willing to ignore this because they know they can win elections by their combined might. I suspect if you look at it, you'll see that the party platform has become progressively more narrowly focused and sloganized as a result of that. Focusing on abortion and gay marriage to the exclusion of any more nuanced social issues throws a bone to the morality crowd without having to let them ask "isn't unconstrained billionaire greed a sin?" Simplifying all financial policy to "taxes bad" is pro-business but not as offensive to the morals crowd as admitting "systemic racism is probably leaving a lot of money and productivity on the table" I suspect backing Trump is just further reaction on that scale. It worked once in dramatic style (they won an election largely seen a formality) so they're doubling down on it. However, I'll say the same thing applies to a degree on the Democratic side, in a variant form. They've decided to go for "broad appeal" rather than "a few specific silo niches", which results in milk-toast moderate candidates that can't possibly offend anyone. What's interesting is that any electoral success for either of these paradigms just reinforces them, but any failure never seems to cause rethink.