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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAfter Tuesday, Republicans will lurch even further to the right
By Paul Waldman
Opinion writer
November 5 at 12:33 PM
This election has seen some surprises and some things that were absolutely predictable. Few of us would have imagined that Republicans could think theyd be able to get away with suddenly proclaiming themselves the true champions of protections for people with preexisting conditions, for instance. But centering their campaign on racist appeals to fear and hatred? I think we all saw that coming.
It doesnt look like its going to work, though we wont know for sure until Tuesday night. But it does raise a question that will help determine the shape of our politics for the next few years: What happens afterward? Especially if they lose the House as pretty much everyone assumes they will will Republicans conclude that the campaign they ran was a mistake and try to change?
I dont mean that theyll conclude it was a moral mistake, because theyve proved time and again that as a group they really have no moral principles they arent willing to transgress if it means winning the next battle. Youd think that when the former grand wizard of the KKK is applauding the president for his racist campaign ads and white supremacist websites are lighting up with joy over his rhetoric, it might lead to some reflection on the right. But we know it wont.
So if nothing else, if theyre not successful in holding the House, Republicans could decide that it was a tactical mistake to embrace race-baiting as a campaign strategy. And Im sure some will. The problem is that the party as a whole may be trapped into repeating the same strategy for the next couple of elections.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/11/05/after-tuesday-republicans-will-lurch-even-further-to-the-right/
N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,775 posts)I believe rocket.
cagefreesoylentgreen
(838 posts)Then they can lurch themselves right over the edge and nothing of value would be lost.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)The map looks bad for Republicans for Senate in 2020, almost an inverse of this year. Vulnerable Senators will distance themselves from Trump. Others will move closer to him. Somebody, probably Kasich, will primary Trump.
kysrsoze
(6,023 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)Much longer if you count Reagans years. He took office wrapped in the flag and Nationalism because of the Iranians holding American hostages, and Americans here loved it. Not once was there any self reflection on our major role in the anger Iranians felt at our actions. There still isnt.
Wherever there is anger at the US you can go back into the causes of it and land squarely on things the US did. Bushs assertion that They hate us because of our freedoms is puerile.
Trump is the epitome of American hubris and imperialism. He is no accident.
If we win we better get ready to fight for real Democracy, both in word AND actions for at least one generation. Thats at least 25 years.
gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)k-dub
(97 posts)SPOT. ASS. ON.
Zing Zing Zingbah
(6,496 posts)You'd think anyone with a brain could spot who's acting extreme. It isn't the Democrats. Trump and the Republicans have been inciting violence. That's extremism. I get sick of how ridiculous Republicans have become.