Suppose the RNC DID remove Trump and replace him

[MineralMan]

with someone else. It seems very unlikely that will happen, but the consequences would be quite simple, really. Trump, despite his noxious behavior and lack of intelligence, has lots of supporters among the "change at all costs" crowd. A good percentage of those, or even a majority, would see Trump's removal as an attack on their votes for the orange-haired member of the rodentia order of mammals.

The result? Those supporters would act on their disgruntledness. Some would simply avoid the polls, which would be a good thing for everyone, really. Others would opt for voting for Gary Johnson, the candidate of the Libertarian Party. In both cases, that would reduce the number of votes on the Republican side and increase Clinton's margin in every state.

Replacing Trump would increase the chances for a grand landslide victory for Democrats, at the top of the ticket and down the ballot, as well. It would be disastrous for the Republican party.

Those in RNC leadership know this. They understand the impact such an unprecedented action would have. They are faced with a genuine Hobson's Choice. Either stick with the "tremendously bad" choice made by Republican primary voters and lose, or kick the short-fingered candidate to the curb and name some other candidate and lose by an even larger margin.

What to do? What to do? My suggestion for the RNC is to simply panic and then let that panic resolve into acceptance of the inevitable loss. The alternatives are even worse for that foundering, obsolete political party.

[redstatebluegirl]

1. I think they have decided to let the Democrats have the White House, pull their money from Trump

and use it to try to stop the bleeding down ballot. They are really between a rock and a hard place right now. Not to say that I'm not enjoying watching it, but that is the reality.

What terrifies me is what will rise from this horrible political mess. What will the Republican party look like if they survive this? Will the racist faction take over? Will the moderates come back and give us some sanity (yes we need as strong two party system)?

Kansas was a peek into what may be ahead. If they can get rid of that crazy tea party fringe and move more to the center they MIGHT be able to be a viable national party again but I truly believe that will take more than one election cycle.

If they are holding something awful on Hillary with the intent to drop it a week or two before the election everything I said above goes out the window and we should be very very scared.

[MineralMan]

2. I'm not sure they've decided anything yet.

GOP leadership appears to be in complete disarray at this point. None of their available choices are good ones. No matter what they do, it will go badly for them.

As far as "holding something awful," I doubt they have any such thing. They've used everything they have already, and it has been to no effect that is beneficial to Republicans. As they slip farther and farther behind in the polls, the likelihood of any big thing is going to reverse the trend grows smaller by the day, supposing that any such thing exists, which I doubt.

You're right about Kansas, though. If Kansas, of all states, repudiated the Tea Party in its primary elections, then that segment of the GOP is well and truly hosed. Kansas.

The GOP should be very worried about the total dissolution of the party as any sort of unified political force. Hasten the day, I say.

[guillaumeb]

3. Recommended because you used the word "disgruntledness".

What an awkward sounding word.


But even if, as seems likely at this point, the GOP loses the Presidency, what makes you think this would be a problem for them?

The GOP has already demonstrated that they only need control of one chamber, or even 40 plus Senate members, to effectively shut down a Democratic President. And the media will not focus on GOP obstructionism for any length of time so there is no downside to the obstructionism.

For nearly all of the Obama Presidency the GOP has represented a minority of Americans, but has set the agenda and controlled the terms of the debate on many issues. That sounds like a winning strategy, if a losing one for the country as a whole.