Keep thinking that, if it makes you feel better.
by ocnd (2024-02-07 15:35:46)

In reply to: Oh my ass  posted by ACross

Cannot Reply Return to Political

It's completely wrong, as evidenced by the millions and millions of votes he received in 2020, but feel free to delude yourself.

Many millions of those were not Republican voters
by ACross  (2024-02-07 15:55:11)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Which is the point.

90 percent of 2012 Romney voters voted for Trump in 2016.
by John@Indy  (2024-02-07 16:55:47)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

A similar percentage of Republican elected officials lined up behind Trump and remain there today. You are correct that the electorate shifted to some degree. Blue collar white voters shifted in Trump's direction and the college educated and suburbanites shifted to Hillary. But that happens to some extent in every election.

Trump never would have been president if the vast majority of 2012 Romney voters hadn't voted for him.

Then what are they?
by wpkirish  (2024-02-07 16:53:57)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

You seem to have in mind some set of voters who are the "true Republican voters" and others are interlopers. That ignores the fact many of the groups you want to dismiss as not real republicans have long been a part of the Republican coalition. Social conservatives and religous conservatives have voted Republican for decades, Libertarians have voted Reppublican for decades. The White working class has been a staple of Republican voters since the 1980's.

The difference now is the groups you want to dismiss control the party in many states and at the national level. They turn out the voters for the primaries and provide the bulk of the votes for the candidates in general elections. There is an easy viable alternative for the folks you think are the real Republicans but Nikki Haley lost to none of the above last night.

You and others are right about the GOP coalition that has
by sorin69  (2024-02-08 08:50:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

prevailed for several decades now. Those who deny it are kidding themselves. Mitt Romney had his come to the Mormon Jesus moment when he confronted a howling crowd in his own state. I could instance conservative commentators from Max Boot to the late Michael Gerson to Peter Wehner to David French who have belatedly, to their credit, owned up to their failure to admit with whom they had made a political bed.

Yeah, but you still underestimate the number IMO
by ocnd  (2024-02-07 16:17:36)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Sure, the people you describe are definitely the base. But add in:

- Pro lifers
- Evangelicals
- People convinced he's somehow better for their 401(k) or economy overall, or a "successful business owner."
- Culture warriors (transgenderism, etc.)
- Immigration hawks

Aren't these "true Republicans?"