The demise of the Republican Party does not fill me with joy.

[RandySF]

I said it before and I'll say again that the Republican Party's downward spiral does not fill me with joy. I democracy needs more than one sane, healthy party whether I agree with them or not. I hope someone manages to salvage it or, if necessary, start a new one under someone like Gary Johnson.

[BobbyDrake]

1. New parties need to be built at the local/state level.

Anyone waiting for a third party to gain national prominence by winning the presidency is just fooling themselves.

[geek tragedy]

2. We need a sane, rational center-right party. A car needs brakes as well as an engine.

Instead the GOP is a fuel tank fire.

[Hortensis]

10. Agree entirely. The GOP is a symptom of a national

breakdown in character and principle, easily manifested strongest on the strong right. Merely replacing this party structure with one dominated by those passionate people won't fix that. We need a period of ascendancy by those, typically more moderate, conservatives who still understand the basics of right and wrong and believe in their value.

[JRLeft]

13. The democratic party has kind of been just that. We haven't been all

that progressive. I'm hoping it will be now. Time will tell.

[geek tragedy]

14. partly because the Republicans want to push the country backwards, so the Democrats have had to

act as a parking brake for a car parked on an uphill slope.

[JRLeft]

16. Agreed, but also because our side has taken too much money from industry.

I agree that the GOP moving so far to the right has completely tilted the spectrum. It's time to get back to the actual middle and maybe slightly left. I'm willing to actually accept the real center.

[deathrind]

3. True.

[Schema Thing]

4. Been a long time since the Republican party could be called a "sane, healthy party".

.... and the insane ideology of Libertarianism is largely why.

[Adrahil]

5. Well, look at tit this way....

If the GOP disintegrates, it opens the door for a new centrist party and allows the Democrats to pull further to the left. We need to move the centroid of the discussion left of center at last.

[NCTraveler]

6. They will rebuild themselves at the national level.

Trump is pandering to more extreme elements and being repudiated. That is a good thing. Your overall point is very valid, I just don't see this downward spiral as their end. More as a flushing of the toilet.

[quitnesset]

7. Larry Johnson for President

He did a so-so job when he played for the Knicks, averaging about 12 point/game...I'd go for him over tRump.

[Iliyah]

8. McCarthyism to the present GOP.

Tea Party creation because of Pres O and it continues up to and including T-rump and thereon.

The present Republican Party is causing it's potential demise. Instead of voter suppression, why not go into the communities and try and win them over by good policies. Why not have a durable immigration policy, and why not allow women to make their own decision on their own bodies.

What's wrong with having affordable comprehensive health coverage for all Americans or even universal single payer. Reasonable retirement with benefits. What's with destroying SSN and programs to help the very poor.

The list goes on. The GOP party has lost it's humanity and the fault lies with them.

And, as a democracy we need two or more viable parties.

[Demsrule86]

9. The GOP lost their sanity when they elected Reagan

and turned to the dark side of supply side economics They have not been health for many years...honestly I have to wonder if they ever were even in Roosevelt's time...I mean Eisenhower was not really GOP.

[MineralMan]

11. The Republican Party has been taken over by extremists.

There is nothing left of sanity and health in it, or it would not have nominated Herr Drumpf. If it implodes, as I believe it will, it may re-emerge in a new form, realigned in a saner way.

I welcome the implosion. Like a black hole, it will collapse on itself and then, as some theories have it, re-expand into a new something.

[TheKentuckian]

12. They haven't been sane or healthy for a generation or more, they are nothing but a force for entropy

and need to go extinct for the good of self determination and broad prosperity not only here but around the globe.

[cleveramerican]

15. I keep hoping they grow up

So far no sign of it

[RonniePudding]

17. Meh...let it burn

At least this incarnation. If they want to be something beyond the bigoted knuckle dragging earth is flat party then I would agree with your premise.

[LostOne4Ever]

18. I want to see the Libertarian party replace them and have the Religious nuts marginalized. nt

[DemonGoddess]

19. ick

The Libertarians are nutcases as well.

[DFW]

20. In that case take heart

Not that the Republican Party seems to have any dedicated interest in being part of a democracy, but as far as their demise, don't make any plans for attending any political funeral any time soon.

With pockets as deep as those of the Kochs and Sheldon Adelson, and the continued existence of Fox "News" and National Hate Radio, the future of their party is assured. They know what a train wreck Trump is, but they know that if they keep at least one house of Congress and a majority of the statehouses, they can continue their obstructive ways. In a way, ditching trump liberates funds they would have otherwise put into the presidential race. I would describe them more as "offensive" than "opposition," but they aren't going anywhere.