Grab a camera and start taking pictures. We are watching history in the making: We are now witnessing the last days of the Republican Party as a viable national party.
Yesterday’s election was the canary in the coal mine showing just how massive has been the damage to the Republican Party wrought by Donald Trump and his followers. In fact, the damage is so enormous that I believe it is now irreparable.
.
The real news in Virginia yesterday was not the expected Democrat victories in the statewide elections. Everyone knew that the influx of tens of thousands of liberal Democrats into Northern Virginia from the federal government complex gave an almost prohibitive advantage to the Democrats in the statewide elections. As hard as Democrat Ralph Northam tried to lose the election through his incompetent and offensive campaign, his advantage was just too great.
.
No, the real news is what happened outside of Northern Virginia: The Republicans lost 15 seats in the House of Delegates going from a 66-34 seat supermajority to a 51-49 slight majority – and that was only determined after two virtually tied races tilted to the Republicans by a handful of votes. [Note: I originally wrote that the Republicans had “probably lost their majority” based on projections at that time. I have now updated it based on the reported outcomes of the two races that I referenced.]
.
In solid-red upper-middle-class suburban Virginia Beach, two Republican incumbents were defeated by openly liberal Democrats, and two more held on to their seats by razor-thin margins. And Virginia Beach went for the Democrats in the statewide races by large margins.
.
Exit polling shows that more than half of the voters in Virginia were sending a message about Trump, and 2/3 of them were sending a message of opposition to him. One out of every three voters in Virginia showed up to vote against Donald Trump by proxy by voting against his party. And Democrat turnout vastly exceeded the Republicans’ because Trump highly motivated them to show up to oppose him and his party.
The response by Trump and his followers was that the Republicans didn’t align themselves closely enough with him. I know, right?
.
Okay, obviously this is an absurd and laughable statement to everyone who is not a fully-indoctrinated Trump drone, but sadly the Republican base now consists primarily of Trump drones, mainstream conservatives mostly having been expelled.
.
So, with the Republican Trump cult’s heads planted firmly in the sand, next year is going to be an even bigger rout of the Republicans. MUCH bigger. The Republicans are going to lose a MASSIVE amount of seats in the House of Representatives and will only hold on to the Senate because of the overwhelmingly favorable election map for that year.
.
Trump and his base of disciples will respond to this second rout by once again blaming everyone but Trump and once again claiming that the only path to victory is to follow Trump in lock-step. And so, in 2020 the Republicans will lose the Senate and the presidency in 2020.
And they will never return to power.
The damage to the Republican brand done by Donald Trump and his cult is so severe that it is irreparable. And so, the Republican Party is now a dead man walking. It is no longer viable as a national party.
Like I said, grab your cameras and take lots of pictures to show your grandkids. This is the last time that our country will ever have a Republican president or Republican majorities in Congress.
.
In the coming years, the Republican Party will fade away. It will follow in wake of the Federalists and Whigs as the latest relic of political self-indulgence that turns a blind eye to the values, principles, and sensibilities of the American people.
.
The good news is that a new party will emerge to be the home of the millions of mainstream center-right voters who are currently homeless. Nature and politics both abhor a vacuum. I’m keeping a lookout for the emergence of that new party so I can jump aboard and do my part to help it succeed.
The Republican Party is a lost cause, and I’m done trying to reason with the Trump cultists who have destroyed it. There is no reasoning with them. If the Trump drones had been on the Titanic, after the ship hit the iceberg they’d be insisting that the only way to save the ship is to widen the hole in the hull, and they’d be throwing overboard everyone who was trying to seal it.
The Trump cultists are infatuated with Trump because of the mesmerizing reality show entertainment he’s giving them. Now that I’ve accepted that the Republican Party is beyond saving, I think I’ll grab some popcorn and try to enjoy the show too.
.
UPDATE to further clarify why I see the Republican Party coming to an end and a new center-right party emerging: The difference between our 2-party system and the European multi-party model is that they form coalitions after elections to form governing majorities, while we form our coalitions before elections. Both major parties are actually coalitions of similar but not identical interests. What has now changed is that the Republicans are purging the party of traditional conservatives and transforming it into a much more narrow nationalist party. Once the Republican Party is no longer a coalition, it will not have the numbers to win elections. That’s why I’m waiting for the inevitable emergence of a new center-right party to replace the Republican Party as a coalition party of the right with the numbers to be able to win elections.
.
Author: Ken Falkenstein
Ken Falkenstein is the Managing Editor of Committed Conservative and brings a wealth of experience and expertise in public affairs to the job. Ken served in the U.S. Army in the last years of the Cold War as a Russian linguist for military intelligence and the NSA. After leaving the Army, he earned his degree in Secondary Education from Old Dominion University, where he also wrote a popular column in the student newspaper.
Upon graduation, Ken worked as a Legislative Aide to two Republican members of the Virginia House of Delegates. Ken also served as Corresponding Secretary of the Young Republican Federation of Virginia, managed several successful political campaigns, and managed governmental affairs operations for a local Realtor association.
In 1995, Ken moved to Washington, DC to serve as a Legislative Assistant to Sen. John Warner (R-VA). While working for Sen. Warner, Ken attended law school at night, earning his J.D. with honors from the George Mason University School of Law (n/k/a The Antonin Scalia Law School). Since that time, Ken has practiced as a civil litigation attorney, including serving for three years as an Associate City Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Ken previously was a contributor to the highly-regarded political blog Bearing Drift and was a weekly co-host of The Steve Batton Radio Program. In 2016, Ken ran unsuccessfully for the Virginia Beach School Board. Ken is also a former President of the Down Syndrome Association of Hampton Roads.
Ken now lives outside of Denver, Colorado with his wife, Kim, and three sons, Adam, Dylan, and Joshua, who has Down syndrome. Ken’s writing is motivated and informed primarily by his concern for his kids’ future.
Im laughing at this article. Little Kenny (A fauxcahauntis minion), is another delusional snowflake. These libs are so hungry for real leadership that any glimmer of hope is latched onto like an ethiopian would grab at a cracker. Keep dreaming Kenny there were no surprises with the results of VA or NJ. In addition; if you really did any research you’d see that the races last night fall exactly in concert with previous results contradicting the party in power. Yes SUPER SNOWFLAKE, the party in power. Try not to get suicidal when Trump wins in 2020.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. You are a a perfect representative of your messiah and your cult.
And you sir are a rino not a conservative your article was very biased and an untrue perspective of what’s actually going and it was clear to see that especially with response to D Wilson’s comment, you didn’t even respond to the facts that he stated, how did you get to be a journalist? Especially for a so called conservative news page
I love when Trumpists characterize a guy who spent 30 years in the trenches with the Republican Party as a “Republican in Name Only” for refusing to follow a guy who became a Republican 2 years ago as a vehicle to run for president. It’s hilarious how you really don’t see how ridiculous you are.
This is only the beginning. Liberalism and the Democratic party are dying out as quickly as Hillary Clinton herself. Yes, democratic governor’s won democratic states. I’m not impressed. Eight years of Trump will indeed change America for the better. We all know how Democrats win races, but you can still vote Democrat in America no matter what country you are from or how long you’ve been deceased. Democrats are scared, admit it. Who can blame you? You’re sheeple though, eventually, you will fall in line for social acceptance or fade
I love when Trumpists characterize a guy who spent 30 years in the trenches with the Republican Party as a “Democrat” or a “Republican in Name Only” for refusing to follow a guy who became a Republican 2 years ago as a vehicle to run for president. It’s hilarious how you really don’t see how ridiculous you are.
And here you go again, Trump has always said he’s a democratic republican meaning whoever is doing better for the country, and that’s what I have always said, I have always been voted independent or Democrat until this last election when I did something I thought I would never do, I voted republican and with people like you I will never vote Democrat again because of the insanity I have been witnessing like your article, it’s clear to see it’s the Democratic Party that is falling apart
Glad to hear it. The Democrats have gone off the far=left deep end. No sane person should be voting Democrat.
If someone disagrees Ken – Why do you name call? That is the lefts playbook
Hear. hear (Y)
Spot on !
Thanks!
[…] This guy is no liberal The End of the Republican Party […]
Who cares? When both parties are on the hill – they are the same. American citizens seem to lose
Trump is for America. Is that wrong Ken?
It doesn’t matter what he’s for when he behaves in a manner that makes it impossible for him to actually get anything done. He’s putting on a good reality show, but other than his excellent judicial appointments, he hasn’t accomplished one single thing that can’t be erased by the next Democrat president with the flick of a pen.
I do find Marc’s first thought correct. Both Parties are terrible. They are for the party, and not for the Americans. I like to say, the Republican party is by far the worst major party in the country, except for the other one. 🙂
For all its innumerable faults, if the GOP folds or is consigned to permanent minority status, it will be a disaster for the principle of Conservatives and those who admire our Constitutional Republic. Without a viable national party and structure, the leftists will run wild.
democrats got elected in a blue state? this means the end of the republican party? lol!!
ps, they said the exact same thing when GWB was elected too, especially after the 2006 elections.
Your comments would have more merit if you actually read my column before commenting on it.
Who has created all the messes in Washington? Yes both parties. Ken explain how people voted to the Senate are not millionaires. 6 years later they are
The Republicans before Trump were already in trouble, but for a much different reason. Before Trump, the party was controlled by establishment politicians who placed a much higher priority on retaining power simply for the sake of having it than on advancing a conservative agenda into law. That was a problem that could have been solved with the right kind of leadership, much like Reagan did in 1980. That problem has now largely become moot, though, because that Republican Party doesn’t really exist anymore. The new Republican Party under Trump is not an establishment do-nothing party like it was a couple of years ago. It’s now a very narrowly-constituted nationalist party that is expelling everyone who is unwilling to pledge blind allegiance to Donald Trump. This new Republican Party is now so narrowly defined that it won’t be able to win elections and is seen as so repugnant by the majority of American voters that it can’t be rehabilitated.
When the Republican party finds its conservative soul again, we will be fine. For the most part President Trump has acted like a Conservative, and when more Americans are working in meaningful, good paying jobs…… the polls, media, establishment can say whatever they want…but Americans will vote mostly on the economic outlook. Trump will do the impossible again and stick around for 2 terms.
Ken why did you write this article? You are not going to convince us that President Trump is a bad president are you? Thank God he is our president and Hillary is not! And don’t cry wit a response it’s not becoming.
Who’s crying? Not me. I’m not like the Trump cultists who go insane at the very hint that Trump was wrong about pretty much anything. I accept the reality that Trump’s Republican Party is an entirely different animal than the one to which I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for 30 years. It is now a narrowly defined nationalist party that is intolerant of any dissenting views – so narrowly defined that it will no longer be able to win elections. I’m not crying about it. I’m just acknowledging that truth and looking for the path forward for the real mainstream conservatives who have been pushed out of the Republican Party by the Trump cult.
Comments are closed.