Thread by @Teri_Kanefield

Response to @AshaRangappa_ ’s first question.

I don't think it’s a shame spiral for most of the GOP leadership because I don’t think most of them (McConnell, McCarthy, Nunes, etc.) feel any shame.

Chris Christie told Colbert he's still a "fan" of Trumps . . .

1/

https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1232811464911728642

@AshaRangappa_ . . . even though he doesn’t approve of everything Trump does (like the lying). Many of them embrace what Trump stands for.

I’ll go farther. Many of them embrace what Putin stands for.

Here’s Katie Hopkins (with Coulter) praising Putin⤵️
rt.com/uk/429777-kati…

2/

@AshaRangappa_ Romney and Kasich feel shame—but they still vote GOP and support down ticket Republican candidates, and they clearly have little influence over the party.

The GOP got into this mess in the 1960s when they figured out there weren't enough traditional conservatives . . .

3/

@AshaRangappa_ . . . to achieve electoral majorities, so they they invited into their party the KKK, white supremacists, former Confederates, etc.

Since then, minority communities have grown.

The GOP's problem now is that they can't appeal to minorities AND coddle the KKK.

4/

@AshaRangappa_ They have to pick.

The only way for the GOP to get rid of Trump (and his KKK-loving base) without imploding is for Trump to leave willingly.

Nixon did.

But Trump isn’t the type. He’s vindictive. If anyone turns on him, he will attack that person with a vengeance.

5/

@AshaRangappa_ If the GOP does try to abandon Trump, the party will splinter because Trump and his base will turn on whoever crosses them.

There isn't time before the election enlarge the base by luring moderates and minorities.

Abandoning Trump now guarantees the GOP a bloodbath in Nov.

6/

@AshaRangappa_ The GOP is not willing to do that.

(Remember when Democrats embraced Civil Rights in the 1960s, they were willing to lose a few elections in the name of what was right.)

I believe the GOP leadership has figured out that its best shot in November . . .

7/

@AshaRangappa_ . . . is to hold their minority party together and put everything into the fight.

Because the GOP can’t reach out to minority communities and while they’re coddling the KKK, they’re responding to their shrinking numbers by trying to prevent people from voting.

8/

@AshaRangappa_ Right wing authoritarians are good at winning elections. They’re willing to cheat. They’re willing to suppress votes through legislation and disinformation campaigns.

And now they have, at their disposal, a modern Internet disinformation warfare arsenal.

9/

@AshaRangappa_ They have other advantages, despite shrinking numbers.

They fall in line (liberals tend to splinter). Putin has their back.

Many Never Trumpers, including @JRubinBlogger are eager to see the GOP implode so that a true conservative party can arise from the ashes.

10/

@AshaRangappa_ @JRubinBlogger But first they have to implode. The quickest way is for them to lose big in Nov.

Then, when they rebuild, they’ll have to figure out how to achieve an electoral majority without Trump, the KKK, and other unsavory members of Trump’s base.

11/

@AshaRangappa_ @JRubinBlogger I put this thread on my blog as well, combining it with two other threads. terikanefield-blog.com/two-views-of-h…