Chances are if you weren't born 5 minutes ago you know who Donald Trump is. He's made international headlines for things he's done and said, so much that UK citizens considered banning him from visiting the country.
Nobody took Trump seriously when he announced he was running for president under a GOP (Republican party) ticket. They laughed, saying, "Who does he think he is? He's not qualified for president! He's never even been a town mayor!". They did have a point, Trump tried to run for president twice in the past and failed.
The one laughing now is Trump, however, since he managed to amass both huge support and media coverage. Many thought Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, or Lindsey Graham would have been the nominee back in 2015. So how could this have happened? A complete outsider to the GOP manages to steal the show, and what does that mean for the party?
Trump is the leader of an ever growing far-right movement within the United States
For those who have studied US political ideologies past and present, you've probably noticed one thing:
Both the Democratic and Republican parties have polarized and switched their beliefs.
Back in around the 50's-60's, Republicans and Democrats were "switched". Republicans were for a more progressive (left) ideology while Democrats were more conservative (right). Democrats were mostly from the South and were not in favor of civil rights nor federalization. I could go into more specifics with Goldwater and Nixon, but what you should know is that the Republican party started implementing what we now know as the "Southern Strategy"; an effort to appeal to Southern voters who were for State's rights and religious governance.
Skip ahead a little to Reagan and what we now know as the modern Republican party is basically a cult based on him. Reagan is what set the stage for "neoconservatives" to completely overtake the party's ideology for the next few decades. Neo-conservatism is not like "classical" conservatism. The main goal of Neocons is for a hawkish foreign policy (bomb first, ask questions later), implementing religious and moral based laws, and out of control spending (irony) while slashing taxes for high-income earners. Many of the neoconservative policies do not agree with minority nor women's issues, which is why the modern GOP is really only popular with white old Southern men (as the party wanted).
In recent years, a new, reactionary (far-right) ideology has formed: The Tea Party, who makes regular Republicans seem so tame that they're called RINO's (Republican In Name Only) for a willingness to compromise with Democrats and the President. If you're a Republican or Conservative, being called a RINO is as big of an insult as being called a communist was in the 1950's. Tea partiers don't like the president nor anything even moderate or left in the slightest. They're seen as bitter and racist because they usually are. Most are from the Deep South think that the Confederate flag is the most important symbol in the world.
The Tea Party has attracted more bigots into the GOP and now they found someone who will fight for them: Trump. If you think about it, everything from neo-conservatism to the Tea Party has lead up to this point. Things got righter, extremer, and more violent. Trump is just a personification of all of those ideas. The idea that there is a secret "establishment" trying to take away their rights/keep them subordinate, that outsiders from other countries are causing problems, the idea that a strong, powerful national leadership is needed to keep the peace, and so on. Yes, it sounds like fascism, and in some cases it is. The "Us vs Them" mentality is alive on both sides of the US political spectrum, but the GOP has made it a way of life. Everything Obama says and does is automatically wrong/evil is the modern Republican ideology.
And who better than Donald Trump to actually make the party "grow" even more?
The Republican party is starting to split and will probably lose many elections in the future, but it's for the best.
Trump has caused a massive rift within the party. Tea partiers, who want Trump and a reactionary form of government, are PO'd. When Trump started to win the Republican primaries, the GOP scrambled it stop him. Why? Because they knew a Trump ticket was a final nail in the coffin for the party. Not even regular conservatives like the guy, only the far right. His infamous statements have caused public outcry, and the public associates Trump with the party. They're not wrong, as I just explained Trump pretty much is the new face of the Republican ideology. What does mean? Elections and alienation. Back a couple years ago the GOP modified its platform to be more friendly to Latinos, women, and the working class. Mainly because they knew if they didn't change they'd lose elections. Trump came in and undid all of that. The easiest way for the Democrats to steal the vote is to make the Latinos, women, and working class seem like the GOP doesn't care about them. Trump had made the whole party seem like that.
With minorities, women, and workers upset from Trump's comments, his lack of solutions, and his crazy followers, the Democratic party is about to gain many new voters. It doesn't help that becoming super anti-Obama and acting like children during the debates have made American voters untrustworthy with the party. Which means the Republican grip on the branches of government are about to slip. The GOP was too late to stop the extremism and their leader, and they will pay the consequences.
This is probably for the best, though.
You see, conservatism comes in two main branches: Fiscal and social. Fiscal conservatives want a small, unobtrusive government that spends little money and collects little taxes. Social conservatives want society to be based on religious and moral traditions only, so things like non-traditional marriage, drugs, pro-choice, etc. are not okay.
The Republican party is supposed to be both. However, fiscal conservatives have felt betrayed by the party, since the Republicans have spent a ton on the military, have engaged in corporate welfare, and have expanded government outreach with the PATRIOT act. Most fiscal conservatives now vote for Libertarians because of this. The Republican party claims to be fiscally responsible but they've proven time and time again they aren't. The only thing they have down now is the social conservatism approach, which many new young people don't agree with.
So if you're a conservative that hates Trump but now sees the Republican party is dying off what should you do? Well the best options I have is to:
(1.) Become a Libertarian: This for the actual fiscal conservatives. Libertarian is actually about small government. If you're a social conservative you'll have to accept that Libertarians tolerate diverse lifestyles, however. They're the next best option for a classical conservative.
(2.) Become an Independent: This is more for the moderates like me. Since the Democrats have started to drift farther and farther left as well, many don't see them as an easy adjustment. The best is to be an independent voter. Try to remove party labels and actually vote for what someone believes. That's the best path forward.
(3.) Become a Democrat: I know. I just got done explaining in the last point that Democrats have started to drift left and aren't seen as an option. Well, the Democratic party is still technically a centrist party, at least according to the platform. A good majority of Democrats like the Affordable Care Act, but unlike what Bernie fans (who isn't even a Democrat, and mainly only gets youth votes) would have you believe, most are not for universal healthcare due to the costs & complexity related to it. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (believe it or not) are actually considered centrists or moderates, and have been criticized by liberals for being too right. Yeah, RINO isn't just a Republican thing. Yes, there are a lot of socialist liberals, but there's also many (usually older) moderates who just think that the government should help fix a thing or two. Some more moderates to the party would actually bebeneficial, since it would help keep the party aligned centrist and not left. This sounds like tyranny I know, but remember to keep your enemies closer than your friends.
So overall, it will be interesting to see how this presidential and senate race turns out. I'm personally predicting a Democrat victory throughout, for the reasons I just stated above. I might not like it, but then again I think the GOP has been worse as of recent times. Anyways, feel free to leave any and all opinions or hate mail below! Thanks for reading!
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