Why Republicans are starting to panic, in 1 paragraph

The Washington Post's The Fix ^ | September 23, 2015 | Chris Cillizza

[2ndDivisionVet]

Summer is over. And Donald Trump is -- still -- at the top of the 2016 Republican primary field.

That makes lots and lots of Republicans with an eye on winning the White House in 2016 (or even 2020) very, very nervous. That unease -- and its origins -- are explained brilliantly in this paragraph, taken from a broader piece entitled "The GOP is Killing Itself," by former Bush administration official Pete Wehner:

The message being sent to voters is this: The Republican Party is led by people who are profoundly uncomfortable with the changing (and inevitable) demographic nature of our nation. The GOP is longing to return to the past and is fearful of the future. It is a party that is characterized by resentments and grievances, by distress and dismay, by the belief that America is irredeemably corrupt and past the point of no return. “The American dream is dead,” in the emphatic words of Mr. Trump.

Wehner, whose honesty and insight about his party and its prospects I've praised before in this space, nails a sentiment I've heard expressed by countless Republicans in the Summer of Trump. The concern is that a candidate like Trump is running a campaign based on the 1980 electorate, not the 2016 one....

[cradle of freedom]

Huge Hewitt was a big Romney supporter from the get go.

[Fungi]

True, even wrote a book entitled “A Mormon in the White House.” Hugh is no doubt a Christian, but he is a RHINO GOPe supporter tried and true. I no longer listen to his show. Lee Habib, please take note. And Hugh, do you still constantly rag on your producer Duane, a cancer survivor? The same producer that the late Tony Snow wanted to steal from you for his nascent show?

[cradle of freedom]

I don’t think they are asking Democrats and independents if they are voting for Trump because I believe that a YUOGE number of Democrats and independents are eager to vote for Trump.

They should ask people of all parties who they want to vote for from both parties. I hope Trump hires a pollster to do a universal poll.

[BobL]

“Consider that the white vote as a percentage of the overall electorate has dropped in every election since 1992 — and dipped to 72 percent in 2012.”

I won’t deny that White voters are a lower percentage of the electorate than in earlier elections - but on the other hand, I’m not sure that I agree that IGNORING THE NEEDS OF WHITE VOTERS is such a good strategy, considering that they’re still 72% of the electorate...and my tag line (for 6 months) and my home page agree with me.

...and perhaps that’s what sets Trump apart from other Republicans. Trump knows that whites ALSO vote.

[Conserv]

Complete and utter bull.

Cizzilla is the one in full blown panic mode.

Trump would most likely increase the percentage of our white vote AND pull in a sizeable chunk of the black vote(maybe 25%).

But, and this is a huge but, Trump needs to grow the hell up first... and I don’t know if he’s capable of it.

[cradle of freedom]

The Democrat and Republican establishment both believe we are somehow discriminating against people who are not even living in the United STates right now. They believe that they have the right to be future Americans and these future Americans are valued more than we do who are already living here.

[Lopeover]

GOPe can go F*** themselves. He was incredible with Sen. Tim Scott in North Carolina! HD Video Quality (720) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD6mE5Q4SWg&index=1&list=FLLR0KZJRLxO4vVbc4-lAyjw I am going to write a letter & send money! And YOU should too! 🇺🇸

[cradle of freedom]

And even many more whites would vote if we had someone who excited us.

[nathanbedford]

[I filed the following reply on August 28 recognizing the incipient shift of the establishment away from Jeb Bush to Marco Rubio which was not difficult to foresee considering Rubio's manifold talents as a politician (not excluding treachery) and Jeb Bush's equally manifest deficiencies. Now the same argument for expediency, that is, electibility, are advanced by a leftist.]

Whether by accident or by coordination both Charles Krauthammer and Rick Lowry on the same day have maneuvered toward Marco Rubio as the new establishment answer to Donald Trump.

It is interesting that both of these pundits identify immigration as the key issue. Lowry argues, "In the argument with Trump over mass deportation, clearly Bush is right." By extension, one assumes that Marco Rubio whom conservatives see as a rank betrayer on this issue, is also right. Marco Rubio has disqualified himself in the eyes of informed conservatives when he betrayed his Tea Party base to sleep with the Gang of Eight on immigration. Ever cynical, the Republican Establishment believes that informed conservatives amount to only such a small minority within a minority that Marco Rubio's evident onstage skills will ultimately prevail with less well-informed conservatives and independents.

Revealingly, the establishment argument over immigration inevitably reverts to alleged electability. Republicans cannot win, the argument goes, without a respectable showing on election day in the Latino demographic with the breakpoint usually put at about 40%. Antagonize Latino voters on the issue of immigration, they warn us, and lose the national election. Who better to soothe the misgivings of Spanish-speaking people of color than a Latino with matinee idol looks who has associated his name with amnesty?

The establishment's reverting to arguing electability is revealing because it betokens their cynicism on every issue beyond immigration. We dare not shut the government down, the people will blame Republicans and nothing, not Obama care, not bankrupting the country with runaway debt, is worth an election.

No principle is worth losing an election, fidelity to no promise is worth losing an election, adherence to oath and Constitution is not worth losing an election. It is not worth losing an election to repeal Obamacare. It is not worth losing an election to save the country from bankruptcy, it is not worth losing an election for any cause by shutting the government down or even appearing to be associated with a shutdown done by Obama. It is not worth it to defend the people against the bureaucrats, to defend the people against executive tyranny done by executive order. It is not worth it to oppose leftist judges, leftist attorneys general, leftist IRS agents, leftist schemers in every dark bureaucratic corner of the Obama administration. Nothing dear to conservatives is worth it.

It is however worth risking an election by offending the conservative base; it is worth risking an election to keep faith with crony capitalists; it is worth risking an election to keep the border open whether in the Oval Office or out; it is worth losing an election by serving K St. at the expense of Main Street; it is worth risking an election to presume on the faithfulness of the conservative base while betraying it to billionaire campaign contributors. Is worth risking an election by cutting secret deals with Obama to betray conservative constituents.

It is even worth risking the security of the nation to abandon the constitutional mandate to advise and consent to Obama's secret dealings enabling Iran getting the bomb. When Marco Rubio slipped in between the sheets with a Gang of Eight on immigration he did nothing more than reveal shortly after his arrival in Washington that he was a quick study. Now the pundits Krauthammer and Lowry nudge unwary conservatives in the direction of Marco Rubio. Soon every establishment Republicans will argue that winning the election is everything. Implied: principle is expendable.

Principled informed conservatives reply, winning with cynics and opportunists is worth nothing. Winning with establishment Republicans is the equivalent of losing.

If demographics is destiny in politics, conservatism has perhaps only this election cycle before it is swept away by a cynically contrived flood of Democrat voting immigrants. Now the very people who caused this, especially the Bush family, and those who at least condoned the Democrats practicing immigration politics, raise their own misfeasance as reason to continue them in power. Properly translated into honest English the GOPe is saying, we have created an immigrant population that must be appeased, we have created a monster which must be fed.

Informed conservatives know this is our last chance.

[bigbob]

I could care less if the GOP kills itself

[867V309]

The bizarre part is the Republican leaders actually believe this claptrap.

They do not!

Please, everyone, embrace this: The GOPe are part of the uniparty which includes Dumbocraps, media, and corporate billionaire elite scumbags. Their only goal is to relieve you of your money, your freedom and your country. For their own enrichment.

The GOPe is just playing good-cop/bad-cop with the Dumbocraps to get elected. They're ALL bad cop.

[BobL]

...which is EXACTLY what is happening now with Trump.

The sad part is that most of the Republican candidate also know it, but they are so badly controlled by Big Money that they can’t figure a way to address those issues, assuming that they even want to.

[Nifster]

I hopethey need a change of underware.

We need a change of leadership

[Lopeover]

People need only watch Don Trump in South Carolina with Senator Scott to know that this man is destined to be the next President of the US!

I am going to write him a personal letter & send him money!

HD Video Quality (720) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD6mE5Q4SWg&index=1&list=FLLR0KZJRLxO4vVbc4-lAyjw

[cradle of freedom]

The callous indifferent attitude that you describe is what makes countries end up like Haiti and dozens of other third world countries. Indifferent leaders who just want to win. They can get used to seeing squalor and human misery in the streets as long as they live in their luxurious homes.

[Randy Larsen]

I only wish that I was educated enough to say what you said in this post!

I will say though, that you speak what I know and feel and appreciate you for writing it!

Randy Larsen.

[WTFOVR]

Great meeting. Mr. Trump answered the questions well.

[Lopeover]

❤️

[Pelham]

+1

[Irish Eyes]

Mark for later