After Trump received a scolding from Republican leadership, he toned down his rhetoric and stayed on message yesterday. Unfortunately, he sang the same old Republican song; tax cuts for the rich and nothing for the working class. Regardless of the change in style, including the use of a teleprompter, the number of Republicans who are refusing to support him is growing.

Susan Collins is a moderate and well-respected Republican Senator from Maine. She wrote in an op-ed that she is not supporting Trump, and will not vote for him.

Some, such as Kelly Ayotte, a Republican Senator from neighboring New Hampshire, are more afraid of losing their reelection bids than doing the right thing. In the primaries, Trump won New Hampshire by 20 points. Ayotte says that she would lose more by denouncing him than supporting him; she is facing a strong challenge in next month’s primary. Party first; screw the nation.

Republican politicians with future ambitions are confused. Take the case of two first-term Senators, Tom Cotton, and Ben Sasse.

Cotton is totally useless as a senator, he spends all of his time attempting to discredit President Obama and Hillary Clinton. He has been called a ‘traitor’ by the media, and ‘mutinous’ by the Army. He plans to run for the presidency in 2020, and is an avid supporter of Donald Trump.

Ben Sasse is also expected to run in 2020, but he has opposed Trump from the beginning. Misguided Trump supporters have expressed their anger at the freshman Senator, but he is a rising star among conservatives.

The GOP is a party divided, and there’s not enough duct tape in the world to mend it. It doesn’t matter if Trump wins or loses in November. The chasm between Trump supporters and Trump detractors is widening. Reince Priebus began the rift nearly eight years ago by supporting the Koch brothers and failing to move the party forward. Extremists have been allowed to move the party backwards, denying individual rights, and placing their party in prominence while denying the wants and needs of the majority of the American people. It has allowed religion, to intervene in the actions of our government in direct opposition to the first amendment.

Now, with the creation of “Trumpenstein,” the entire Republican Party must be rebuilt. It is extremely likely that the GOP will become two separate and distinct parties; Republicans, who will return to a more moderate stance, and the TEA Party, or Freedom Caucus, whatever they call themselves today, which will remain the party of extremism and obstruction.

Because this Republican Party has no claim to being the ‘party of Lincoln,’ this may be a good thing. America needs two strong parties who cure the ills of our nation through deliberation and compromise. That is the only way democracy works.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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