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Time for the RNC to Cut Trump Loose
There was a time when the Republican National Committee was terrified that Donald Trump would launch a third-party run. Now their biggest fear should be Trump as the face of the Republican party.
Once a candidate is the presidential nominee, it is the party’s job to defend every statement he makes. When Romney criticized the 47 percent, or McCain suspended his campaign after the economic crisis, or George W. Bush was blindsided by reports of a 1976 drunk driving arrest, the RNC had to support their candidates and aggressively attempt to spin the bad news in their favor.
Every candidate makes missteps here and there, but Trump has based his campaign on indefensible statements. Criticizing POWs because “I like people who weren’t captured.” Claiming a debate moderator had “blood coming out of her wherever.” Saying that in New Jersey, “thousands of people were cheering” the fall of the World Trade Center. Bragging that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
And when The Donald talks policy, it gets even worse. Trump promised “I would bring back waterboarding and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” Reince Priebus, et al., will have to passionately back a pro-torture position in a general election.
If Trump repeats that his extremist pro-choice sister would make a great Supreme Court nominee, the party will have to applaud his vision, along with her defense of partial birth abortion.
“I will tell you. They lied,” Trump said about the Bush Administration. “And they said there were weapons of mass destruction and there were none. And they knew there were none.” The RNC press shop will have to agree that Dubya lied his way into the Iraq War and denounce the party’s complicity in promoting this lie. And then the RNC will need to reverse their position when Trump does the following day.
Trump has denounced free trade and threatened tariffs as high as 35 percent. There goes a prominent plank of the Republican platform, newly aligning the party with a rump of far-left economists and Big Labor.
The natural end result of Trumpism is the destruction of Reagan’s three-legged stool, not by sawing down one leg or another, but simultaneously tossing social conservatives, economic conservatives, and defense conservatives into the wood chipper. By necessity, the party will need to be utterly destroyed and remade in The Donald’s image.
Meanwhile, the RNC is charged with backing the election of numerous congressmen, senators, and other down-ballot Republicans whose positions are diametrically opposed to their party’s nominee. Can the party support a candidate who promises to repeal Obamacare when Trump says that he loves the mandate? Will congressional candidates agree that we should “bomb the oil” and then, somehow, take it for ourselves? Do would-be senators in swing states agree that Muslims be banned and deride Hispanic illegal immigrants as marauding rapists?
A party divided against itself will not stand. Nor should it. It would have lost its reason to exist.
Of course the loathed GOP establishment brought this nightmare upon itself after double-dealing conservative voters for decades and mocking the Jeremiahs warning of a coming judgment. The entertainment wing gleefully promoted the reality star as he lashed out at feckless beltway culture. But that is all history. Today, everyone on the right needs to figure out the least bad way forward.
According to most polls, Trump will lose to a Democratic nominee. More and more party faithful are announcing that they cannot in good conscience pull the lever for an anti-conservative like The Donald. After dithering for months, waiting in vain for Trump to fail on his own, the RNC has a decision to make.
The only way the party has a future is for them to cut Trump loose so he can fall on his own. Otherwise, the entire organization will go down with him.
Published in General
I just wanted this repeated!
Incredible. Whatever you think of Trump, people vote for him. It’s very likely he’s going to win the nomination. The Party doesn’t have to back everything he says, but to rig his chance? He agrees and complies with the Party rules and all. And so far I haven’t heard of any accusation of Trump trying to cheat and steal votes. He even promises not to run third party as the Party wanted. He can beat Clinton. Any one of those guys can. She’s a terrible candidate, not counting all the awful things the Clinton does.
I disagree. I think this is a much bigger crisis than you’re acknowledging. Imagine Trump’s sheer lawlessness, after the harm that Obama has already done. Imagine a president even more polarizing than Obama. Forget about the Supreme Court… I’m not certain it would plunge us into civil war, but I don’t think this country would emerge intact.
I could not disagree more. Whether we like it or not, conservatism will be represented by Trump in the public mind for a generation. As an intellectual and political movement, it will be dead.
I agree with everything else you wrote, but most elected GOP officeholders would disown Trump whenever he strays into his stupidity, much like they do currently whenever the current leaders do stupid things. If the country’s not doomed by HRC getting elected in November, it’s not doomed by Trump winning and getting abandoned throughout his first term. If it’s doomed in both scenarios, quit advocating a strategy that guarantees the former. Wait and pray that Cruz/Rubio pull this one out.
See here – http://ricochet.com/time-for-the-rnc-to-cut-trump-loose/comment-page-6/#comment-3195308
Conservatism has been cutting it’s own wrists for years. Donald Trump doesn’t have to do anything. And if the sentiment here is any guide, it has become, in practice, more like a religion created to sell stuff than a political movement. The Scientology of politics. Buy our books, subscribe to our networks, go on our cruises, and you too can achieve Operating Thetan.
Oh ‘cummon. All the serious conservatives are already disowning him. And unlike GWB, they’re doing it before he gets elected, not after.
The party can accept that he won this year, without making every other candidate tow the line on his positions.
Has Trump referred to himself as a conservative? (I’m asking because I don’t know.)
That is essentially what I am doing. But if Cruz/Rubio do not pull this one out, I would advocate dumping Trump, regardless of his votes. Granted, at that point, I would be more inclined to see an actual split, with the emergence of some sort of “constitutional” or “conservative” party (as suggested by a previous commenter). I’d sort of love to have a multi-party system, except that we would be splitting Republicans (maybe?) and handing perpetual victory to democrats. Of course, if Trump really does appeal to many democrats, it might be a wash, but it would be a good one. I have no desire to be associated in any way with Trump or his supporters, and certainly a different party would be a good option.
Are there different rules for Thatcher members vs. Coolidge members? Just want to know the ground rules here.
I actually understand that completely. But I don’t think I would be part of the Party if they gave their word to support Trump then backed out. I may not vote if it is looking like a blow out, my state will go for Hillary. If it is close, I’d vote for Trump over Hillary.
I do see some good that could come from Trump. He is a symptom of the rot in the media/Democrat corruption.
Hillary has gotten away with far more than Trump has so far. She is a criminal.
I really like Rubio’s optimism… I want him to inspire this country by showing them the American Dream is possible. I want him to grow conservatism, to make us inclusive, and to make our superior ideology mainstream.
But with the media the way it is, I’m not sure that is possible. Our message never gets out. The people it could help the most–never get a chance to receive or reject real conservative ideology because the media demonizes us.
If Trump does win the nomination, I hope he wins the Whitehouse.
He might end the media monopoly on information for the left who could benefit from hearing truth for once.
That’s precisely the problem. It creates a ridiculous amount of confusion, and it all but eliminates our ability to legitimately grow the party. As I see it, I would rather lose every single Trump voter, accept minority status, and attempt to grow the party again through the spreading of our correct ideology than to accept their re-definition of what conservatism is.
Problem is that while Trump is anti-media, he is not pro-truth. We don’t trust the media, so it is all too easy to conflate those things.
The Reticulator: Has Trump referred to himself as a conservative? (I’m asking because I don’t know.)
He calls himself a common sense conservative. The sticker is what does he consider common sense?
I say we get WADA involved, look how they solved the”Lance Armstrong” affair. He was just trying to make American cycling great again.
And how serious will such conservatives be seen as when they are rejected by the political body the have called home for 65 years?
:) Don’t be silly. If I get redacted, that’s fine. I didn’t think it was a CoC violation, but if it was so be it…
Maybe it’s time for GOP voters to cut the RNC loose.
This is already happening. Since joining Ricochet last year, I’d been happily explaining and defending conservatism to my (liberal) friends and relations…urging them to really listen to the Republican candidates, re-think welfare and the minimum wage, read this book or that article… and then along came Trump.
He is, as others have pointed out, the embodiment of a stereotypical conservative: a rich, mean-spirited, sexist, racist, vulgar and completely unprincipled white guy. He’s the id of the party, the main event promised by the Palin teaser, the “reality” in the Republican show and, they tell me pityingly, they’ve known it all along.
Not sure what you’re saying here. Conservatism’s in trouble because the GOP’s divided? Rigging the primary will make that worse. Conservatism’s in trouble because the media’s gonna smear us? Always has and always will be a problem. Suggesting we have to disown Trump to protect Conservatism? We’re already doing that. Conservatives rigging the GOP primary just makes both Conservatism and the GOP worse, without making us “more appealing” or more likely to win.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but some of the party votes for that. Your response is, “that’s only ~35% of our vote, and the rest of us hate him. Let me introduce you to all the conservative pundits who hate him.” Also point out how many nuts are on their side. Bernie Sanders didn’t get a job until age 40 and is currently at ~50% support.
Trump is indeed the ugly face of the party, his attacks offer nothing of substance and in the general election, many republicans won’t support him, they will stay home. There comes a time when you have to say that your party has lost its way, Trump would be one of those times. He thinks eminent domain is acceptable as a first resort for business, he would attack any business that did not exist and do what he thinks it should do (i.e. If you open a factory somewhere else the government will punish you). Of course the economics of such a move is to place the burden on the consumer, not the company. His foreign policy is more a hodge podge of populist rhetoric that will do more harm than good, especially in terms of letting “Putin” do things. So he doesn’t know or really care about the US Constitution, he reacts violently to anyone who questions the validity of his views, heck, might as well call him Il Duce. He will cost republicans the next election, he is not what republicans should represent, and frankly, I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for his ability in business given if he had put his inheritance in a mutual fund he would have more than he has now.
Here’s the problem. Trump supporters are openly embracing a non-conservative. I wouldn’t even mind calling it a litmus test. Some of those people are simply duped; some are holding out false hope; some are willing to sacrifice everything on a gamble regarding immigration. Those would likely come back to a conservative party, and that would be fine. The rest would, and should, leave for good. Maybe it’s true that the RNC should operate differently (or be blown up altogether). But if anyone thinks that Trump is the solution, that person doesn’t belong with the GOP to begin with. So it’s probably both ways. Some GOP voters should find or form a different party where ideology is irrelevant; they can be called the American National Party.
I did so just over three years ago. The RNC can go tits-up, as far as I am concerned.
Exactly. But he is a fraud. You can tell your liberal friends that he is a fraud and then send them here:
http://www.freetochoose.tv/ftc80.php
I don’t think it would be “rigging” the primary. It would be discarding Trump as a candidate by declaring his run invalid. He’s not a republican. His candidacy should be rejected. If he forms a new party and takes voters with him, I say good riddance.
In my circle of friends, I’m already hearing the call for a “Conservatives for Gary Johnson” type coalition if Trump wins the GOP nomination. With the motto being something like “Hey the economics aren’t that bad at least.”
I predict we will see a lot of conservatives either sitting the election out, or voting third party (Libertarian most likely I guess) if Trump wins the nomination.
The process of actually building a new party though is not easy. Do you think there will be enough support for a national level third party? I’d of normally said no, until the idea of a real Trump nomination became an actual possibility. If Trump wins the nod, I think you will have enough people who will leave in order to have an actual base to build from.