The GOP leadership seems hellbent on a government shutdown
in an election year. It’s a terrible idea, being pushed by terrible
people who are terrible at their jobs. But that doesn’t mean there
isn’t a logic to it, and that logic is something we all need to be ready
deal with.
Back in July, when the RNC held their convention, a lot of politicians
on the GOP side had to make a choice. They saw the way the polls were
headed. They decided that, morals be damned, they were going to tie
themselves to Trump and ride his wave through the election. Nikki
Haley, who had campaigned hard on ‘Never Trump’, ate her pride and endorsed
him. She was merely the most prominent GOP politician who decided that
morals and principles were overrated when it came to a ‘sure thing’.
Fast forward to now, and its a different story. Donald’s election campaign sinking almost as fast as his stock, and every day his mental faculties become more suspect as his answers become more and more rambling.
No amount of sanewashing is going to undo what people saw on September
10th, a man ostensibly running for president repeating a story that was debunked before he even brought it up. His campaign is shedding support because its clear to everyone: Trump is bordering on being floridly psychotic.
The issue is that for the GOP leadership and those that have invested
heavily in the party this cycle, that is frankly immaterial. GOP
leadership knows they’re stuck with this guy, especially since the one
poll that asked showed Harris beating Vance by 18 points.
At the same time, the prospect of a president that has no cognitive
ability excites some GOP superdonors in the same way kids are excited at
the prospect of a teacher just not showing up for class. The fact that
Trump is borderline incapacitated is only acknowledged in the sense of
it making their job to shove his carcass over the finish line that much
more difficult.
But make no mistake, they are going to try. We’re entering a dangerous
phase of the campaign, one where the GOP is desperate and willing to try
anything. They are looking for any lever they can pull to change the
trajectory of this election, and to hell with the consequences. The
party spent that week in July reforming itself around Donald Trump, and
there will be no GOP if he doesn’t win the presidency. Everything is
expendable, anyone can be sacrificed, and no price is too high to pay
because they bet everything on Trump winning this election. If he
loses, there is no future for the vast majority of the GOP, and there
are few things in this world more dangerous than someone who stands to
lose everything.
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