Quote:
Originally Posted by ernie
Correct it's not. But they allowed it by (1) continuing to give fodder to the anti-establishment portion of the party and (2) by failing to rally around someone center-right that was electable (well they failed to rally around anyone)
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I think it's important to note that the Republican establishment is more similar (as is the Democratic establishment) to an industry than a company. What I mean is that the controlling forces are not all pulling/pushing in the same direction. The establishment doesn't want the rise of the Evangelical fundamentalism for example, but must coexist.
The reason I bring this up is the narrative that the party "allowed" or "created" Trump is probably a gross oversimplification of a very complex phenomenon we're seeing all over the world. The rise of reactionary demagoguery is not easily stopped by a splintered party, as we're seeing all over the world. The truth may simply be that the Republican party has been splintered over the last 12 years to the point where no one group had enough power anymore to stop it. Mitch McConnell has been steadfast in his efforts to stop it, Ryan tried stopping it as did Reince Priebus. That's really every leader the establishment had and they couldn't because they no longer have enough power.
If you wanted to point a finger, Fox news would be a good place, though there's an argument of chicken vs egg there too