Sure I see the party looking past Trumpism anytime soon. It is the animating feature, and the only pols succeeding are handpicked by Trump, trying to mimick Trump, and/or desperately trying not to offend Trump.

Look how quickly DeSantis responds to slights against him or his policies, such as his immediate threats against Disney - FL’s most important employer, arguably - when it made a statement against the so-called “don’t say gay” law. I’m not aware of any response against Trump for his (really clever!!) Desanctimonious remark. DeSantis will let that one slide, I’m sure.

I don’t think anyone ever expected the dems to keep the house. Most optimistic projection I saw at the height of Dobbs hoopla was repubs might only win 10, and have a margin similar to the dems’ now.

So - if the polls are off a bit in these waning weeks, and the dems hold the senate, no red wave, and maybe repub leadership starts thinking about the drag Trump places on the party. If the repub house harvest stays below 15 seats at the same time, I think repubs will have underperformed badly under the circumstances, increasing that pressure.

Even then, I wonder if the new repub party isn’t baked in for the foreseeable future.


[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 11/08/2022 10:39AM]