[Alberta's Child]

The biggest change here is that there are probably fewer Republicans and more “independent conservatives” on FR than ever before.

Unlike many folks here, I don’t despise establishment Republican politicians. I can even rationalize some of their “RINO” decisions. I will just never trust them to do the right thing when it matters most.

The Republican Party has nobody to blame but themselves for this. They destroyed the amicable relationship they had with their own grassroots supporters by giving this country a parade of feckless @ssholes in prominent national roles — like George W. Bush, the Cheney cabal, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, etc. — over the last 25 years.

[unclebankster]

The Republican Party has nobody to blame but themselves for this. They destroyed the amicable relationship they had with their own grassroots supporters by giving this country a parade of feckless @ssholes in prominent national roles — like George W. Bush, the Cheney cabal, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, etc. — over the last 25 years.

*****************

Yep.

[Dilbert San Diego]

When did the Republican party ever have an amicable relationship with their own Grassroots supporters?

Sometimes people mention President Nixon and President Ford on Free Republic and they say that those presidents were too liberal.

Was Eisenhower representative of the GOP and have an amicable relationship with supporters then?

It seems that at least on Free Republic the only presidents who have broad support are Reagan and Trump. Every other Republican president that’s ever mentioned is said to be too liberal.

[Tench_Coxe]

"The Republican Party has nobody to blame but themselves for this. They destroyed the amicable relationship they had with their own grassroots supporters by giving this country a parade of feckless @ssholes in prominent national roles"

Not just that, but have torpedoed promising candidates--I'm thinking what was done to keep Murkowski as Senator from Alaska.
Or the work people like Scott Pressler is doing, and the RNC is nowhere to be found--and I suspect if that work gains momentum, the RNC would actively work against him. Think McConnell and the Tea Party movement.

Or how about what Bush and co. recently tried to do to Ken Paxton?

Already, what suspiciously sound like party operatives are kvetching on this thread.

Its why I'm not surprised an RFK gets traction. Because many of those prominent people you mention act like their Democrat counterparts.

This really isn't about parties. This really about (oversimplified) DC and its priorities versus the rest of the USA.