Here’s how the GOP factions will respond to a Trump candidacy in 2024:
- CDs: Seriously? More divisiveness, corruption, and incompetence? That’s the last thing we need!
- CLs: The wall, excessive spending, corruption, and contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law were too much for us, even with the tax cuts and deregulation. It’s time to move on.
- PBPs: Only if a socialist is the only other choice. We hated the tariffs and the capricious interventions in the economy. Disaster was always lurking around the corner. There has to be someone better than him.
- Reactionaries: MAGA! MAGA! SAVE AMERICA AND OVERTURN THE STEAL! ONLY TRUMP STANDS BETWEEN US AND THE ANNIHILATION OF OUR CULTURE!
Unfortunately for us, the Reactionaries probably make up a majority of the GOP at this point. CDs have mostly left the party; CLs are a tiny minority; and the PBPs historically kept quiet in the face of his outrages. As a result, even though the man’s defects are obvious to everyone, he will be the favorite to win the GOP nomination if he runs in 2024.
Would anyone play Eugene McCarthy to his LBJ in 2024? I will speculate on that issue tomorrow.