There’s been plenty of reaction to today’s speech from Hillary Clinton. This diary is only tangentially about that speech. Since the convention, Clinton has been hammering home the message that Donald Trump does not represent conservative values and he does not represent the Republican party.
She has called upon leaders in the Republican party to repudiate Trump and acknowledge that he is toxic to the country and to their party. She has extended the olive branch to these people saying, repeatedly, that if elected she will represent Democrats, Republicans and Independents whether they voted for her or not.
The media has branded this as an attempt to woo centrists and even stalwart Republicans, and that is a fair analysis. But it’s missing something critically important. The same thing that is missed by many of those who want Clinton to take a much more aggressive line in the hope that this election might hollow out the Republican party and throws full control of the federal government to the Democrats.
Clinton’s approach here is a devastating blow to the Republican party. Because for thirty years the cardinal rule of the Republican party has been: “always toe the party line”. With the corollary: “never speak ill of other Republicans”. Now Clinton is calling on them to do both, but not as Republicans, as Americans.
Democrats cannot crack the Republican party from the outside, as much as we would love to do so. In a two party system, there’s simply no way we can apply that sufficient pressure. Trying to squeeze them until they break hardens their resolve and firms their coalitions. They bond together to fight the oppressive forces they see around them.
What Clinton is doing could almost be seen as the opposite of that approach. Instead of squeezing the nut of the Republican party, she’s creating a vacuum. With Trump as her focus, she’s creating an environment where the Republican party will, on its own, fracture and disintegrate. The party is set to split in at least three parts: those who will support Trump, those who will support Clinton, and those who will not support either.
Those three positions are not mutually acceptable. Trump’s supporters will see his loss as the result of RINOs abandoning their perfect candidate. Those who support neither candidate will see his loss as the inevitable outcome of the lunatics taking over the asylum. And both groups will never accept back into the fold the people who vote for Clinton.
Which is why Clinton is the perfect candidate for this moment. Leading Republicans are stuck. If they stay with Trump, they run the risk of their own personal brand being obliterated with his. If they dump him, or attempt distance from him, it will be cast as bowing to the will of the hated Hillary Clinton. They’re boxed in, held in place by inertia, uncertainty, and the dread fear that they are the ones presiding over the demise of the Grand Old Party.
