The GOP will end up coalescing around Trump by the end of February.
They thought they were free of Trump, but the fact is: for the last four years they have been Trump’s bitch and inevitably, they will remain Trump’s plaything.
He will be acquitted in the Senate trial and the GOP will realize — is already realizing — that they must support him or face obliteration. The threat to form a new party is merely that: a threat, but it is an incredibly powerful threat because he alone on the Republican national scene is capable of pulling a substantial amount of voters away from the party. There is no way they will risk that happening.
Already at the state level, Repubican politicians are lining up in support of Trump and his false narratives. HIs brand of fiery populism will bring out voters. Republicans will come to understand that without Trump’s blessing they face much more of an uphill battle. Of course, the Democrats are unusually energized too, but they are already falling into the kind of smug slackerdom that got Trump elected in the first place, lulled by the wash of in-you-face-ist memes their echo chamber is cheerfully promoting, lulled by the lack of outrageous tweets or 24–7 “news” coverage on Ivanka’s hat, Melania’s latest fashion disaster, or Donald Junior’s toothy vampiress.
Trump may, in the future, realize that running for president is not the smartest move he can make: I mean, he will probably lose again. But four years is a long time and a lot can go wrong in Biden’s USA especially with people like Trump and his slimy minion pulling his puppets’ strings so incredibly effectively; and we are talking about a man who’s famous for his oversized narcissism and famous for his inability to concede anything. So I wouldn’t rule out another run from a 78 year old Trump.
I think a lot will hinge on Huckabee's run for governor in Arkansas. Once that happens, I think she will probably win. People don’t think about Arkansas too much but outside of urban centres like Little Rock (if that), it is about the reddest state in the union: take a look at this highway billboard I took a picture of when I was visiting in 2016:
These guys are not voting Democrat anytime soon. There will be no Georgia-style flip here.
When she wins, the Republicans will jump without hesitation straight into Trump’s pocket.
As for the bloody insurrection and wannabe coup that occurred: do people think that was it? Just a giant dollop of whip cream on the shit sundae Trump spent four years concocting? A bit of punctuation that marked the end?
Wrong.
Remember: a huge amount of Republicans think the election was stolen, and they outnumber the Republicans who were horrified at the violence and deaths that occurred BY A LOT. ("By a lot" is my new favorite stupid-sounding phase. I have the greatest stupid-sounding phrases in the history of the earth) Get this though, and mark my words: Most of them don’t care. All that patriotism? Just a sham. They are Americans. And there is only one thing that unites all Americans: absolute fear and hatred of "the others", i.e., other Americans.
If AOC or Pence or Nancy Pelosi had been strung up and murdered, a lot of people from the "fuck your feelings" squad would have applauded; and the rest would have excused it away as unfortunate collateral damage.
In the next four years I think there will be more violent uprisings; maybe not as dramatic as the one that took place on January 6th, because the Capitol is now on high security lockdown for eternity, thanks to these goobers.
But these are dark times.
And Trump remains at the center of it.
