Henry McLeish: Republicans are finally realising that Trump will drag them under

For three years, the Republican Party, the Grand Old Party or GOP, has been a willing co-conspirator, in this dysfunctional Presidency, able and willing, to do his bidding when asked, and remaining silent when common sense is screaming at them, to speak up. The Republican leadership has collaborated with Trump and must share the blame.

US President Donald Trump. Picture: Getty

Setting aside naked tribal loyalty, the obvious question is, why? Only now, after apparently abandoning its traditional role as a sound party of government, are cracks appearing in the Republican establishment. Signs of panic are emerging, as the clock runs down to November. The loss of the Presidency, the House of Representatives, and the Senate- the three arms of US government- stares them in the face, as a blue hurricane may be strengthening in unlikely battleground states.

Founded in 1854, the Republican party opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed for the expansion of slavery into the western territories. This was the party of Abraham Lincoln. Under his leadership, and a Republican congress, slavery was banned in the US in 1865. Early in the 20th century, the party shifted to the right.

Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the political base of the Party shifted dramatically. The Southern slave States, upset at the reforms of Lyndon Johnson, became more reliably Republican. The idea of white America took hold and further support arrived in the form of Evangelical Christians, who turned Republican after the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973. Ideology, within the Republican party, gives prominence to culture and social issues over economic matters. In broad terms the GOP stands for: lower taxes, free market capitalism, tough on immigration, increased military spending, gun rights, restrictions on abortion, deregulation, and restraints on labour unions.

The emblematic Elephant arrived in 1874 and the, “Congressional Record”, described the Republican Party as the “Gallant Old Party” in 1875. Finally, the, “Cincinnati Commercial Tribune”, settled on, “The Grand Old Party” in 1876. Including President Trump there have been 19 Republican Presidents. Republicans currently control the Senate with 53 members out 100, 198 members of the House of Representatives out of 435 and occupy 26 of the 50 Governors mansions.

But the Republican Party of Senate Leader, Mitch McConnel, and Donald Trump, bears no relationship to the GOP of Abraham Lincoln. Like Trump, the Party lacks soul, a creed, or principle, and has become factional, transactional, and deeply committed to big money, corporate greed and a divisive set of cultural wedge issues such as guns, religion, race, voting rights and abortion.

Surprisingly, the GOP is paying less respect to the constitutionalism that still shapes, guides and influences the direction of the country: evident from their acquiescence to Trump’s reckless undermining of the spirit and substance of the ideas and wisdom of the Founding Fathers.

This does not fully explain why Trump has such an iron grip on the GOP. The corner stone of Trump’s re-election campaign is to focus more on mobilising his base than expanding his or the Party’s appeal. Executive Orders from the White House dominate. Trump is not interested in the Legislative branch and spends much of his time deriding their efforts. There is some doubt as to whether Trump is a Republican. Instead he is for himself and uses the Party as a flag of convenience when it suits his bizarre antics.

In a well-argued paper, “Is the Republican Party Destroying Itself”, Harvard professor Thomas E. Patterson lists five problems. Ideologically, it is captive to a reactionary base: demographics, where population trends are moving against them; the power of the right-wing media to create a distorted and inaccurate picture of reality; a rise in income inequality which is intensifying class awareness and the idea of “white”, America; and, persistent lying which is eroding the trust on which democracy depends.

Trump has used a declining party like, a trojan horse or militant tendency entryism, to secure and consolidate his power, isolate, for his own use, a fanatical base, and by using revenge and fear tactics against any-one who crosses him, keep Republican leaders subdued. The level of intimidation, humiliation and bullying would embarrass any self-respecting political party, but not the GOP.

Trump has prioritised his personal political and personal ambitions over party and country. Edward Luce, writing in the Financial Times, captures the political thuggery of Trump’s behaviour, when he says, “Anyone, who thinks of standing up to him would risk an electronic lynching that would finish their career. No one will cross him or have the courage to say he is unfit to be President”. The Los Angeles Times highlighted, “the high political mortality rate amongst past Trump critics”, who are now speaking out against him.

But the President has many enthusiastic allies. Arkansas Senator, Tom Cotton, a likely Presidential candidate in 2024, is a devotee of Trump and last week in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, described slavery as, “the necessary evil, upon which the Union was Built”. Libertarians, old Tea Party remnants, and intense free market fanatics, carry the Trump banner in Congress.

The Republican Party is a loose coalition of diverse interests. Within the Party the electoral dynamic is complex. Trump’s hard core base remains solid, the GOP leadership and Congressional membership appears increasingly nervous and, 90 per cent of Republican voters approve of the President.

But suburban voters, women, and right leaning independents are peeling off. Republican strategists fear that, Trump’s recent focus on contesting the result, rather than winning the campaign, is un-settling voters.

Trump’s shambolic handling of the pandemic, the impact of the economic recession and his collapsing poll numbers, are creating a sense of growing unease among the Republican establishment.

Of significance is the high powered and well financed, “Lincoln Project”, set up to, “save the Republican party from itself”, and representing, “dedicated Americans, protecting democracy”. The aim is to hold accountable those who would violate their oaths to the constitution and would put others before Americans.

The Lincoln Project is one of several anti-Trump Republican groups, including, “Republican Voters Against Trump” and the “Right Side”. Republicans are finally realising that Trump will drag them under. But it may be too late.