CommentsEPPERHART EXPRESS--I’m not a great fan of bumper stickers, license plate frames and other means using one’s vehicle to share. I don’t care who you voted for, how many stick figures are in your family, or what you (heart). But, recently I was struck by a red, white, and blue sticker pasted across the rear window of a car in front of me. It said, “Not a Republican.”
For the most part, people who put stuff on their cars want to tell the world who they are or what they are, not what they aren’t. I guess “Not a Republican” falls into the same category as the Watergate-era “Don’t blame me, I voted for McGovern” sticker.
It’s possible, though unlikely, the driver of the “Not a Republican” car voted for Trump, but thinks the GOP isn’t sufficiently obedient to the current resident of the White House. Certainly, Steve Bannon and his ilk have never considered the Republican establishment at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue to be true believers.
To many of the alt-right, not only are Congressional Republicans not interested in “draining the swamp;” they are the swamp. Maybe this is why Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and GOP leadership in general have approval ratings of around 25 percent. About 70 percent disapprove of the job they are doing.
Trump ran as the anti-establishment candidate. But, unlike George Wallace in 1968 and Ross Perot in 1992, the Donald figured out he wouldn’t make it as a third-party contender. Instead, he captured the GOP, making it a subsidiary of Trump, Inc.
Trump’s recent deal with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to raise the debt ceiling and maybe save DACA provides a clear sign to Ryan, McConnell et al that the Donald is only interested selling one brand—his own.
Good or bad, Trump is a phenomenon that exists beyond the bounds of normal party politics. Much of the 2016 electorate was loyal to him, not the “R” following his name. Perhaps that’s why an increasing number of moderate House Republicans are choosing not to run in 2018. The prospect of bruising primaries against far right challengers is as great a threat to them as losing to a Democrat riding a wave of anti-Republican revulsion.
More than anything, the Republicans’ subjugation to Trump and his alt-right followers may be the party’s undoing. Does that “Not a Republican” sticker belong to a Democrat or one of those independents who will decide the fate of the Republicans next year?
(Doug Epperhart is a publisher, a long-time neighborhood council activist and has served on the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners. He is a contributor to CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected])
-cw
