Worth Reading :
Cool It with the ‘Whigs’ Rhetoric. By Charles C. W. Cooke
I have no desire to downplay the disaster that the GOP
has brought upon itself this cycle. Presented with a “change year” and given
the gift of an opponent who is far weaker than she seemed, Republicans have
chosen to commit electoral suicide. Had they played their cards right, they
could have had it all: unified government, a chance to replace Justice Scalia,
a golden opportunity for real reform. As it is, they are going to lose the
White House for the third election in a row, and to exacerbate the demographic
and reputational problems that keep the party’s chiefs up at night. This
has not, let’s say, been a glorious eighteen months. That said, I think we
ought to be a touch careful before writing the party’s obituary. As damaging as
Donald Trump has been — and may continue to be after the election — the GOP has
proven pretty resilient, all told. Currently, the Republican party is having
serious trouble winning the White House — trouble that started with the normal
swing of the pendulum, and that, this year at least, has been continued by the
party’s penchant for self-destruction. But is that endemic, as the doom and
gloom merchants insist? Possibly not, no. Indeed, if the GOP had chosen
somebody good this year — anyone other than Trump, really — the landscape would
now look very different indeed. Probably, the GOP would be winning. And then
what would the headlines read? “Republican comeback,” mostly likely. Maybe
even “Unified government.” Put a Kasich or a Walker or a Rubio at the top of the
ticket this year and, of the last four elections, the GOP would have won half —
two out of four. Is that what is meant by extinction? The rest of the American
system isn’t proving too toxic for the party, either;
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
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