Counterpoint to this thread from @LizMair: I get the argument, and understand. If you wipe out the GOP, and all that's left is Tom Cotton, then you have Tom Cotton's GOP.
But I don't see an alternative, since the GOP has been institutionally captured. /1
But I don't see an alternative, since the GOP has been institutionally captured. /1
@LizMair If there were a massive intra-party schism and debate in the GOP, I'd be where Liz is: Get with the sensible center-right, and turn your fire on the extremists and the Trumpy opportunists. Strengthen the center, defeat the fringe. But that option is long gone, imo. /2
@LizMair With the noble exception of Romney, all non-Trumpist options are gone. And even if some of those Trump fellow-travelers aren't that extreme, they've shown that they're cowards who will cave to the *next* Trump (or Cotton). This is like "playing the doves" in Iran or something. /3
@LizMair So to me, the answer is to keep handing the GOP defeats as big as possible until there *is* a revolt in the ranks, preferably from the bottom-up. Until then, trying to strengthen non-existent centrists is a mug's game. /4x
