For the longest time — ok, most of my lifetime — the Republican Party has not handled good fortune well. Republicans were prone to freezing up and acting too paralyzed to accomplish anything once they had any kind of advantage in Washington. It really did seem as if they simply did not know how to govern.
A prime example is Mitch McConnell. For most of his career as the leader of the Senate Republicans, he behaved like he was actively trying to keep the GOP permanently in the minority. There was a brief time during President Donald Trump's first term when we got to see the McConnell we'd all been waiting for. It was fun to watch while it lasted.
President Trump has not only thrown conventional election wisdom out the window and changed how the Oval Office goes about its business, but he is also changing the culture of the Republican Party. The Bush Republicans have, for the most part, been relegated to the sidelines or — in the case of Liz Cheney — sent packing. This was a change that grassroots Republican activists like myself have long known was needed if the party was going to remain viable.
As most of you know, I co-founded the Los Angeles Tea Party in 2009 and spent the next few years speaking at rallies and conferences. Most of that time, we were battling establishment Republicans as much as we were Democrats, especially in the beginning. The old guard wanted to hang out at the Capitol Hill Club, enjoy some scotch, and wax nostalgic about halcyon days that never really existed. They wanted to do this while His High Holiness the Lightbringer Barack Obama was embarking on his "fundamental transformation" project for the United States of America.
If things were left to the Bush/Cheney/Romney wing of the GOP, he would have been wildly successful.
The establishment GOP types preferred comity to confrontation; they never understood that the Democrats are always on a political war footing. Trump-era Republicans are the aggressors now, which is why the Democrats have been on their heels since last year's election. They are still trying to wrap their heads around the notion of Republicans fighting for what they want.
I've wondered often in columns if this newfound Republican backbone will survive once President Trump is out of office. OK, I worried more than I wondered. That's not the case these days. I've also written a lot about how everyone in the Trump 47 administration seems to be in perfect sync with the president. There's nothing grudging about any of it, either — they're all thrilled to be on board. I don't see that suddenly disappearing in 2029 once Trump isn't coming into the office anymore. The party will be left in the hands of people who don't take any crap from the Democrats.
Could it be that Republicans have finally learned how to enjoy winning?!?!?
That would seem to be the case. Not only are they enjoying it, but the Republican National Committee is focused on winning more. That hasn't historically been true. The RNC was great at lip service and little more. The Michael Steele-esque versions of the RNC were concerned only with keeping the aforementioned Capitol Hill Club scotch flowing.
I'm not saying that the new and improved GOP is going to defy historical trends and romp through the midterms next year. Republicans are going to put up a thoughtful, focused fight, however. The Trumpian, can-do version of the party doesn't yield ground easily. That bodes very well for the future.
Yes, it looks like the Republican Party can finally have some nice things.
Maybe even keep them, too.
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