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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I don't think you can destroy the Republican party as a political Party, there are to many legal benefits tied with being the Republican Party or the Democratic party for either party to go away competently no matter how far off the deep end they go.
Now destroy the party as we know it today? Time more then anything else I suspect, as the old racist white vote continues to die off the party will be forced to modernise, the big business interests of today will be replaced with new big business interests, from the mills of old to the factories, to the banks of today, big business has changed, eventually we may see the Republican Party move to more modern big Business, the Google's and Amazon's of the day.
People realising how insane the current Republicans are and moving away in droves wouldn't be enough to destroy them as a political party, it would make them not relevant for a time and force them to adapt and change, but it wouldn't destroy them.
edited 14th Dec '15 5:04:07 PM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran![]()
I wouldn't put it past him running for president anyways.
I don't know if Trump truly believes he can win as an independent, but I 100% guarantee that he knows that the other Republicans can't. All he has to do is maneuver into position to be the best shot they've got, otherwise it's utter suicide.
However, he himself pointed out there's no point in considering running independent because he's consistently had large support. And being deliberately excluded would only justify everything he's ever said about the Republican establishment and support him even further.
The Republican party has put themselves between one hell of a rock and a hard place, and they know it.
Trump may not want to win, it's about ego and prestige, he wants to be the nominee, he wants to be the headline news, I seriously doubt the man has any interest in actually running anything. Hell I wouldn't be that surprised if if he did somehow win he then resigned on day one just to make big headlines and so that he wouldn't have to actually do anything.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranThis has actually happened before in American politics. In the early 1800s, the two major parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans (aka Anti-Federalists). The Federalists collapsed after the War of 1812, and the Democratic-Republicans split into the Democrats and the Whigs. During the run up to the Civil War, the Whigs collapsed and were replaced by the Republicans (who were largely Whigs but explicitly anti-slavery).
If the modern Republican party collapses, then the most likely result is the Democratic party splitting into a moderate party (which would attract centrist Democrats and former moderate Republicans) and a liberal party (which would attract left-leaning Democrats) and right-leaning Republicans (like the Tea Party crowd) would be left out in the cold.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Did the US system have as entrenched legal advantages for the two parties back then? Keep in mind that the Republican and Democrat parties have legal advantages over other political parties. Moderate Republicans aren't going to give up those legal advantages by founding a new party, they're going to fight tooth and nail to be the last ones standing of the Republican Party.
i feel like the republican party will mostly have to adapt its social rethoric down the line, at least. economy is something most people aren't educated enough to discuss intelligently, but you don't need a degree to know racist, mysogynistic, and homophobic discourse when you see it.
edited 14th Dec '15 5:55:09 PM by wehrmacht
That said, the two party system doesn't exist because of any specific legal benefits given to the two major parties that currently rule the political roost. It exists because of the first-past-the-post election system, meaning that whoever gets 50% + 1 vote wins the election, which has the effect of incentivizing large big-tent parties so as to avoid splitting the vote between candidates that are largely similar (and allowing someone with wildly opposing stances who didn't split the vote to win instead).
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.I'm not convinced the legal benefits of being a Republican or a Democrat are enough to prevent the destruction of a party if it looks like a loser to its base. Can you elaborate on those, Silasw?
edited 14th Dec '15 6:31:25 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."They don't exist purely because of those legal benefits, but the legal benefits make it much harder for new parties to be established.
My understanding is that when you register to vote you register as a Republican, A Democrat or an Independent, that right there is the goverment putting two political parties at a massive advantage over all other parties, why would anyone want to give that up? Any splinter group from the Democrats would have to contend with the fact that people are registering as Dems or Republicans, not "new left Dems" or Dems. They'd be better off just fighting the Democratic right-wing from within the Democratic Party. The Dems would always win, but which branch of the Dems would be the important thing.
First Past The Post is rigged for big parties, but the US system is especially rigged for the Democrats and Republicans.
edited 14th Dec '15 6:39:24 PM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranI remember having many parties to choose from (plus Independent) when I got registered to vote.
But yes, the Republicans aren't going stop being a party, they're just going to lose a shit ton of elections due to demographic changes until they change their policies to be more palatable.
edited 14th Dec '15 6:47:38 PM by Ekuran
Obviously, if you're a politician rather than an average voter then there are more consequences to party affiliation. But generally speaking, it doesn't matter if you register for a party or what party you register for. Political parties don't collect "member's dues" or any other financial contribution as a requirement for membership, and (other than primary voting in closed primary states) being a registered party member doesn't offer any privileges or advantages.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.Hardened voting registration preferences and closed primaries probably do give the present two parties some resilience, but they're still vulnerable if their base becomes too quickly disquieted or pressurized. The few folks I know who are GOP are only so because the apparent alternative is being a Democrat. Some of those folks at large in the conservative voting bloc are probably creative and capable of spontaneously generating a meme that will have the effect on the GOP of a shipboard eductor: watery enough at first, but it'll have sucked enough of the greasy, oily crap from the previous space to still catch fire on the other side, since oil, grease, and crap all naturally concentrate and float to the top. Happened to our version of the Whigs.
edited 14th Dec '15 9:56:29 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."Born the year after Hitler died too...
...Reincarnation?
Anyone hear about went down at the Trump Rally recently? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-las-vegas-rally_566f9151e4b0e292150f05fe
Hillary will be the next US president. There may be a slight chance that Bernie will be her second in command.
Honestly, I'm really not sure about Bernie, but I want him so badly to be at least US's economic advisor cause he is perfect for that job.
Fuck Trump and the stupid (segment) of the Republic party. I don't want to think about them anymore. I CANNOT cause I'll BLOW up again. And you do not want me to blow up.
Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

Trump actually being the nominee. He won't be though.
edited 14th Dec '15 4:27:27 PM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der Partei