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The GOP’s Faustian Bargain With Donald Trump
Until death do them part, Trump and the GOP are bound by white nationalism and a desperate need for relevance.
The election of Barack Obama to the presidency marked a turning point for the GOP. It was the party’s day of reckoning.
For decades, the Republicans had capitalised on white nationalist, evangelical voters, stoking their racism through a deceitful use of euphemisms designed to reinforce racial divisions in the country. Election cycle after election cycle, they abandoned their policy platform, knowing none if it would work (Americans are still waiting for all these tax cuts to trickle down), in favour of an electoral strategy focused on negative emotions and fear.
Obama’s accession to the presidency changed the face of America and forced the GOP into an inescapable quandary
This strategy culminated with the nomination of Sarah Palin on the 2008 GOP ticket, and the welcoming of the tea party in the party’s mainstream. Because 2008 feels like a century ago today, here is an excerpt of Palin’s acceptance speech at the RNC to illustrate the argument:
[Obama] is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word “victory,” except when he’s talking about his own campaign […] What does he actually seek to accomplish after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer — the answer is to make government bigger, and take more of your money, and give you more orders from Washington, and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world […] Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay; he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights. Government is too big; he wants to grow it. Congress spends too much money; he promises more. Taxes are too high, and he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan.
— New York Times
Obama’s accession to the presidency changed the face of America and forced the GOP into an inescapable quandary:
