Alan Zendell, March 16, 2024

This week, the media have been trumpeting Donald Trump’s clinching the Republican nomination for president in 2024, and his complete takeover of the Republican Party. What they’re leaving out is that the Republican Party, like the Old Gray Mare, just ain’t what it used to be. It was never the majority party by popular vote, and today’s iteration of it is greatly diminished.

Three of the forty-nine Republicans in the Senate are on record refusing to support Trump, and there are surely more – it’s hard to imagine James Lankford (R-OK) supporting Trump after he scuttled Lankford’s hard-won border bill. Our present political climate in which the leader of the Party routinely threatens his rivals doesn’t foster openness. Thus, prominent centrist Republicans in the House, rather than fighting against the MAGA crew that took over their chamber, are running for the exits as fast as they can. All of the above means one thing: Conservative Republicans with a moral conscience who believe in our Constitution are no longer part of Trump’s Republican Party.

Even more striking is the number of former Trump Cabinet officers and senior advisors who have publicly said he is unfit for office and should never be allowed near the Oval Office again. When individual Republicans like Liz Cheney and Adam Kissinger spoke out, people discounted them because they served on the House Panel that impeached Trump twice. But when CNN anchorwoman Abby Phillip compiled a list in a video report, yesterday, it was difficult not to believe Trump has rough sailing ahead.

He’s defied expectations and logic before, when most of us had no idea how many angry Americans there were. Whether they were down on their luck, struggling with taxes, xenophobes, racists, misogynists, or fearful of change and too lazy to think for themselves, Trump skillfully pandered to all their hatreds and complaints. We were shocked to learn that about one in three Americans were in that mix.

Have a look at Ms. Phillips’ list and hear their own words on the video in the link:

• Former Vice President and ultra-conservative Mike Pence, who believes Trump is a fake Conservative
• Former Attorney General and long-time Conservative Bill Barr
• Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who was consider too right-wing for the Bush administration
• Former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, who is highly respected throughout the military and diplomatic communities.
• Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
• Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis
• Former Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, who characterizes Trump as having no idea what America and public service are about
• Former OMB Director and Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who was a vocal Trump supporter for five years and who now believes Trump is guilty of insurrection
• Former Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Mark Milley, who describes Trump as a wannabe dictator who has no respect for the Constitution.

When Trump chased away traditional Conservatives, women who resent being told what they can do with their own bodies, and diplomats and military leaders who are terrified of Trump’s ignorance about foreign affairs and his worship of dictators, he was left with the same one-third of Americans who comprised his base from the start. By themselves, they’re not enough to elect him, even with the MAGA movement’s gerrymandering and voter suppression laws in effect.

My crystal ball doesn’t work any better than yours, CNN’s or Fox News’, but we don’t need one to see what’s ahead. First, an incumbent who, at 81, is susceptible to every vicious attack MAGA is capable of. He walks stiffly at times like most people his age, and he occasionally trips over a word during a long, passionate speech, more a reflection of his life-long stuttering affliction than evidence of dementia. His basic decency, compared to Trump’s sociopathic behavior, makes him look weak to some people, compared to his savage opponent who knows no limits. But his record speaks for itself – no American president since Franklin Roosevelt has been more productive or commanded more respect from foreign leaders, especially our allies.

In the other corner is Trump. There’s nothing to say about him that you haven’t heard or read ad nauseum. If Trump manages to win again, despite being on trial for 91 felony indictments, historians will beat their heads against a wall until they’re unconscious. The choice between Biden and Trump couldn’t be clearer. Before you cast a vote for Trump, imagine you’re a German in 1932, living under conditions far worse than any American is today. If you could look ahead fifteen years and see everything we now know, would that raging, Jew-hating populist with his absurd mustache still have your vote?

That’s the real choice we’ll face next November. Get it wrong, again, and it may be our republic’s last gasp.