Twitter cuts (#99)¶
The meltdown of the GOP as observed by a concerned outsider:
- Let's think through the scenario the GOP establishment has that Rubio can save them from Trump.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- The idea is that if it's a head-to-head Trump v. Rubio, the anti-Trump consolidated vote would favor Rubio.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- The first thing is: it's not a 2-way race yet. It's a 5 way race. How do you convince Cruz, Kasich & Carson to drop out?
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- Carson will stay in as long he as gets fundraisng $$. Kasich wants to try his luck in mid-west. And then there is Cruz.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- I can imagine Kasich & Carson pulling out soon. But Cruz? This is not a man who is amenable to reason or the good of the party.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- Cruz has every incentive to stay in this till the end & see if he can be a kingmaker if no-one has enough delegates to win.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- But let's say by some miracle this becomes a 2-man race. Not all of Carson/Kasich/Cruz voters will go to Rubio.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- Trump v. Rubio won't be 32-68. It'll be closer than that. And Trump is not a man who is afraid to fight dirty.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
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- On Rubio's side, he'll have tons of $$. Could do a real scorched earth ad campaign like Romney did with Gingrich in Florida in 2008.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- On Trump's side, in xenophobic year he'd be up against a Cuban American, fluent Spanish speaker who favored amnesty for undocumented
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- So, Trump v. Rubio is not a sure thing at all. And we're a long way from even getting there.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- The time to unite the party against Trump was before Iowa. Now it might be too late.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- The key is you can't defeat Trump without risking alienating his followers & provoking a 3rd party run.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
- But for GOP, I think Trump is so dangerous a figure that they should now be prepared to alienate his followers & have him go 3rd party.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 21, 2016
The radical repolarization of the party system within an Anglophone democracy is a rare event. To find persuasive precedent for what is happening today, it is arguably necessary to return all the way to the mid-19th century and the emergence of the Republican Party during the Civil War era. It’s only natural, then, that their should be an unusual level of agitation about developments (though this description risks — very seriously — putting the cart before the horse).
2016 is set to be a year for the history books.