Bruce Bartlett: I voted for Trump to destroy the GOP

[kpete]

I believe that Republicans made a deal with the devil in 2009 when they embraced the Tea Party, a populist group who were just mad as hell and weren't going to take it anymore. In Congress, the Tea Party has been aggressive in destroying all the norms that made it work for more than 200 years.

...........

Flush with such "victories," extremists of all shapes and sizes were attracted to the Tea Party ranks—Christian religious fanatics, gun nuts, anti-gay bigots, nativists opposed to all nonwhite immigrants, secessionists, conspiracy theorists and, of course, racists.

What binds them together is hatred. Hatred of government, yes, but also hatred of liberals, minorities, homosexuals, non-fundamentalist Christians, environmentalists, feminists, and many other groups.

Donald Trump, to his credit, figured this out instinctively and pandered to it brilliantly. He channeled the anger and hatred of many whites on the fringes of the economy and society who blame "others" for stagnant wages and other real problems that Republican gridlock in Washington has prevented legislative action on.

Trump understood that these people didn't so much want solutions to these problems as someone in power to acknowledge their existence and give voice to their frustrations.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/04/i-voted-for-trump-to-destroy-the-gop-commentary.html

[Mister Ed]

1. A cogent and well-written editorial.

Well worth going to the link and reading the rest.