Quote:If the predictions are true that Trump is going to lose and the Republican Party has a civil war for its soul, I think this is not a bad thing, because...

 

I would really like to participate in a new, rebuilt Republican Party, one that is socially and scientifically enlightened, and financially conservative.  If the Republican Party will move away from this crazy populist xenophobic anti-free-trade bull excrement and move towards the center on some issues, then I would like to join it.  

 

If the predictions hold true and Clinton wins, then the Democratic Party will have their day of reckoning postponed, and all the disease and rot will remain at least until 2020. 

 

I have always believed that in every crisis there is an opportunity, so the Republican Party crackup is a great opportunity to rebuild the party in a way that will attract independents and centrists like me. 

 

One of these two parties will become the dominant party by taking the center.  Up to now, both parties have reflected the polarization in the country, Democrats racing to the left and Republicans racing to the right.  So actually, going down to defeat could advantage the Republicans by giving then a 4 year head start in rebuilding their brand for the 21st century. 

 

Before TAPEGATE, Trump was leading by double digits among independents. 

 

I also reject the idea that the republican party is anti science.  If you take away the average Democrats phone they won't be able to tell you the difference between abiogenesis and evolution, they won't be able to tell you the difference between speciation level change and adaptation, and they won't be able to tell you why there has been no mathematical correlation between the exponential increase in anthropogenic CO2 and the surface temperature of the planet for the last two decades. 

 

As for socially enlightened, this cycle we basically replaced the pro life plank in the platform with paid childcare and paid family leave.  We have a candidate at the top of the ticket that said you can use whatever bathroom you feel appropriate and frames anti-terror policy through the prizm of helping the lgbt community.  Any further to the left and you completely alienate the religious right that you need to win elections.  There just aren't enough fiscally conservative secularists in the middle to replace and expand over 40% of the republican base. 

 

As for immigration, good luck with that.  Why didn't the Obama administration pass it with their initial majorities in the senate?  Because if you don't get it past cloture then it might as well be political suicide!  Unfettered immigration isn't a majority position in the country and its certainly not a majority position among those outside the democratic party. 

 

The great tragedy is that for the forseeable future Trumpism would have been a more than viable political platform, it's just sad that it might not have been enough to overcome the flaws of Donald Trump. 

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