Despite the denials of the delusional, clearly the Republican Party, at best, is having severe problems. At worst, We, the People are seeing the fall of the Republican Party.
In Woodward's book, Bill Barr recognized the problems and attempted to persuade Trump to temper the excesses and rhetoric to avoid driving away moderate Republicans and Independents. Trump refused and lost the election while the Republican Party moved further into Conspiracy Theory territory.
Saying "
78% of Republicans believe Biden didn't win the election" isn't as significant as it appears when people realize that
Republicans only constitute 28% of the voters with less than 22% of voters believing in RWNJ conspiracy theories to "Stop the Steal".
As JPP's Trumpers continue to push lies and conspiracy theories, sane people are re-evaluating their political affiliation. Despite Trump handing the Democrats the White House, the Senate and the House in 2020, the Republican Party continues to push anything Trump wants.
These excesses are hamstringing the Republican Party at best and dooming it at worst. This, IMO, is bad for America since our nation is best when there is a sane conservative view in Congress. That sane conservative view is rare both in Congress and on JPP. This is not good for America, folks.
Trumpers drinking the Kool-Aid are pushing sane conservatives away under the delusion that those sane conservatives will never, ever vote Democrat. While that part is probably true, what the Trumpers are not seeing is those same sane conservatives simply refusing to vote at all. Elections are about voter turnout and the current Republican Party is pushing conservatives to stay home in November 2022.
Bill Barr was right about this
According to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in their tell-all book "Peril," Barr told Trump: "There are a lot of people out there, independents and Republicans in the suburbs of the critical states, that think you're an asshole" and "don't care about your fucking grievances." Barr went on and told the President that if he didn't soften his tone and turn his attention to concerns about Covid-19 and the economy, which these critical "swing" voters cared about most, he was going to lose the election.
Trump, however, refused to pivot -- just like arch-conservative California recall candidate Larry Elder, who was similarly chastised by establishment Republicans who felt a moderate more in the mold of their party's last governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Massachusetts' Charlie Baker and Vermont's Phil Scott, would have the necessary crossover appeal to have a shot in a Democratic state. And whether it was out of stubbornness or insensitivity or some other game plan, they paid a steep price for their insouciance.
Trump and Elder reaffirmed -- for both parties -- that turning competitive suburbs from "purple" to "blue" is very bad for Republicans' business. As demographic shifts add to the Democratic advantage in these once-reliably Republican counties, such as Fairfax in Virginia and Montgomery and Delaware in Pennsylvania, alienating "swing" suburban voters could continue to cost them in national, state and local elections.
These voters, especially in competitive states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina, remain the gatekeepers any presidential candidate must pass if they expect the keys to the White House. They also determine who bangs the gavel in the US House. Most of the 40 or so competitive districts are fought in the "Crabgrass Frontier" between city and country.
