February 19, 2021 ☼ gop ☼ trump ☼ mcconnell
Source: NPR - Link
Some in the GOP believed the way to a majority was through a “Southern Strategy.” It used appeals to fear and white racial grievances, which began a long arc of an American political crackup centering around race and culture.
It arguably laid the foundation for the Tea Party movement, which happened to spring up during the tenure of the first Black president, Barack Obama. That led to the formation of the Freedom Caucus, the block of hardline House Republicans who led to the ouster of John Boehner as speaker and culminated with Trump’s election.
So, this is a very different Republican Party than it was decades ago. Gone are the concerns of free trade and a hawkish national security with a strong American global footprint. In is a type of right-wing populism with voters animated by cultural issues like immigration, abortion and religious freedom — things the base perceives as necessary to defend to maintain a way of life that liberal popular culture threatens.
While a lot of the article is about Trump, Trumpism, and McConnell; the gist is about the fracturing of the party and the creation of a third party. It could spell disaster in the 2022 elections for them, unless Democrats manage to pull defeat from the jaws of victory like they are wont to do.