THE GOP IS NOW OFFICIALLY THE “PARTY OF TRUMP”

… Rep. Mark Sanford hugs his sons after losing the Republican nomination for his House seat.

 

Trump and other GOP candidates are embracing Confederate symbols and white nationalists.

I would suggest to those liberals that are anticipating a “Blue Wave” at the up-coming mid-term elections, they may want to re-evaluate that idea based on what’s happening across the Republican Party.

Rep. Mark Sanford, of the highly conservative state of South Carolina, Stanford himself is a stanch conservative member of Congress who had survived an earlier scandal as the state’s governor.  But this week, Stanford lost his primary election to a state legislator who had condemned Sanford for publicly criticizing President Trump.

In addition, in the state of Virginia, Republicans nominated for US Senator, a Trump-like candidate with a history of embracing, as the president has, Confederate flags, symbols and of course white nationalists.

Fiercely and undeniably, the Republican Party this week confirmed its re-branding itself as the: P.O.T., Party of Trump.

The Republican Party now appears united, but not to ideas or policies, but to a man who defied the odds to win the presidency and who has drawn the party’s power bases to himself.

Legislative efforts by some in the party to take the trade authority back from Trump and to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws in ways he has opposed, they both fell in defeat.

Meanwhile, many in the party who in the past have opposed talks with North Korea’s autocratic leader, this week they did a 180° turn and praised Trump for his summit with Kim Jong Un.

Because of this turn of events, a strange word has evolved out of the conversations as to what is going in the GOP.  The word that has been stated by more than one Republican, and in the media, is “cult”.

“It’s becoming a cultish thing, isn’t it?” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) told reporters. “It’s not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be of,  purportedly of the same party.”

Back on June 13^th, Senator Corker also said then that the GOP is experiencing a 'cult-like situation' in its refusal to stand up to President Trump.

Now publications such as Esquire Magazine and the National Review as well as Senator Jeff Flake have also referred to the “cult-like” attitude of the new Party of Trump.

Of course, both Senators’ Corker and Flake will not be in the Senate by the end of the year, so they are free to speak their minds and neither are big fans of their White House leader.

This president has recently expanded his power throughout the Republican party in an unexpected way, given his very narrow 2016 victory after a campaign filled with internal turmoil.

Trump’s social media habits (Twitter) have commanded the airwaves and cancelled any efforts by both Republicans or Democrats alike to change the subject.

With the Trump International Hotel, down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, it has become the regular gathering place for Republican groups, political donors and foreign visitors, a financially rewarding symbol of his supporter’s demonstrated loyalty.

What is so disturbing is that it has been the sentiment of Republican voters who have swiftly adopted the president’s positions.  They also look the other way from his constant lying, and his missteps and conflicts that would have totally doomed any prior presidents.

Recently, Trump threatened a trade war with Canada, one of the nation’s strongest allies.  But Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) stated, “I think people who lock horns with the president need to understand what the limits are in terms of their ability to win elections.  At this point, he’s the leader of our party, and I think in order for our country to be successful, I think we ought to try to support him and his policies when we think he’s right.”

So, apparently to this longest serving Republican Senator, he feels it's OK to go after our longest and strongest ally, while kissing up to a tin-pot dictator.

The real sentiment of Trump’s voters is: They want the party to stand by the president, and they feel it is pointless to resist.

Yet even if that decision is the only rational way forward for ambitious Republicans, it is also comes with danger.

Even though Trump remains the party’s biggest draw, the voters are enthused about him, more than they are the party’s other candidates.  The other candidates pale in comparison to the highly visible president.  “The American people are closer to US presidents than they are to local elected officials because they know more about them,” said Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma.

However, longtime Republican consultant Mike Murphy, a serious Trump critic said the GOP may have to “wait for the election” this fall to finally loosen the president’s grip on the party’s voters and leadership.  “Trump is king, and the party has a suicide pact,” Murphy said. “You would hope we could see it coming, that there is enough evidence with polling and the special election results, or with his coddling of dictators, but apparently not”

“I don’t think we, or any president, has demanded personal loyalty to the degree Trump has,” said David Axelrod, an Obama adviser. “We made appeals around shared goals, ideals and agendas. But we didn’t play in primaries. Popular as he was, Obama’s party was not the cult that the GOP is today.”

Once again, the “cult” word is used about the Party of Trump.

But still, across the country, more GOP candidates have started aligning themselves with Trump for fear that if they don't, they will be gone.

The mid-terms are going to be very interesting.

Copyright G.Ater  2018