Class hatred now splits the party. The culture of the Republican establishment resembles more that of their liberal urban counterparts than of the populists in the hinterland. We are at a Jacksonian moment. The Republican party is eroding. No one quite knows what will replace it.The issue is social class; the GOP establishment/elite is upper middle to upper class, the base is blue collar/lower middle/middle class. The Trump phenomenon has forced these two groups to face the fact that they really don't like each other, not even a little.
After the election, the mainstream will blame the Trump people. The latter will certainly fault the former for sabotage — as the country goes further to hell under Obama’s third term.
GOP elites have more in common with Dem elites than with their déclassé voters. The Tea Party was relatively polite and lost. The Trumpistas have been less so, and have been spurned by elites, the media, and the commentariat. So suppose Trump loses.
When the same disaffected folks return a third time it may well be with torches and pitchforks, or their latter day equivalents: molotov cocktails and assault rifles. Worry they will not go gentle into that good night, they're well armed and grow angrier by the day.
A GOP return to the status quo ante - that is, before Trump - isn't possible. The genie is out of the bottle and isn't going back. The splintered remnants may degenerate into irrelevance, or may unite around a truly dangerous demagogue. In the words of an ancient Chinese curse, we live in interesting times.
