# Question For Republicans: If Trump is elected... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 20, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420 "2016-07-20T14:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/1 "2016-07-20T14:23:24Z")
…will you consider it a win because at least your Party wins? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/2 "2016-07-20T14:25:00Z")
…or because at least Hillary/the Democrats lost? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/3 "2016-07-20T15:41:59Z")
No, because it will be a loss for the country. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/4 "2016-07-20T15:46:36Z")
I agree with **Shodan**. Excuse me, have to go lie down for a couple of days… ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/5 "2016-07-20T15:46:57Z")
I detest Trump so much I’m not even sure I’m a Republican anymore. Merely letting him run is a loss for the party. Letting him win would be a disaster to the country. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/6 "2016-07-20T15:56:48Z")
I left the Republican party for good in 2008, but I still think Trump is at least less of a nightmare then Ted Cruz. He is a terrible choice running against a weak candidate and thus has a chance somehow to win but he was not the worst Republican Candidate this year. All that said, I’ll be voting for HRC. Trump as President will be worse. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/7 "2016-07-20T15:58:53Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I detest Trump so much I’m not even sure I’m a Republican anymore. Merely letting him run is a loss for the party. Letting him win would be a disaster to the country. Well, then, you have a pretty stark choice. Disengage yourselves from the batshit baboon brigade, purify the Party, and you will lose some elections. Lot of them, probably. But you regain sanity and dignity. We will have an honestly conservative party we can argue with and prove wrong without having to talk about whether or not Hillary is the Whore of Babylon. We of the sincere left will applaud and admire such courage and honesty. We will also take every possible advantage from it. But you will gain at least one benefit: the ambitious cynics will not longer gravitate to your party, but to the Dems. They will dress themselves in a different set of hypocrisies, with a (D). Your call. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/8 "2016-07-20T16:01:23Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, because it will be a loss for the country. > > Regards, > Shodan I’m not a Republican, but I think this pretty much hits the mark. Heck, I saw a blurb supposedly from GW Bush saying Trump would be a disaster and also lamenting that he might be the last Republican president (sorry, no cite as I saw it in passing over the weekend). He may very well be right…or, if Trump IS elected, then THAT might be the end of the party. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/9 "2016-07-20T16:06:45Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, then, you have a pretty stark choice. Disengage yourselves from the batshit baboon brigade, purify the Party, and you will lose some elections. Lot of them, probably. But you regain sanity and dignity. We will have an honestly conservative party we can argue with and prove wrong without having to talk about whether or not Hillary is the Whore of Babylon. > > We of the sincere left will applaud and admire such courage and honesty. We will also take every possible advantage from it. But you will gain at least one benefit: the ambitious cynics will not longer gravitate to your party, but to the Dems. They will dress themselves in a different set of hypocrisies, with a (D). > > Your call. If it were that simple it would have already been done. There is always going to be someone willing to engage the Trump wing of the party, and they are still going to be strong enough to win primaries. A Republican candidate doing what you suggest loses to one trying to appeal to the “batshit baboon brigade” 10 times out of 10. This isn’t going to change by 2020 or 2024 or even 2028, demographic change is slow. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/10 "2016-07-20T16:08:05Z")
Not to mention that a Trump victory is probably worse for the Republican party in the long term than a Trump loss would be. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/11 "2016-07-20T16:19:43Z")
Only if he is swiftly impeached. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/12 "2016-07-20T16:33:20Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I’m not a Republican, but I think this pretty much hits the mark. Heck, I saw a blurb supposedly from GW Bush saying Trump would be a disaster and also lamenting that he might be the last Republican president (sorry, no cite as I saw it in passing over the weekend). He may very well be right…or, if Trump IS elected, then THAT might be the end of the party. > **[George W. Bush worried he'll be 'the last](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3697904/I-m-worried-Republican-president-George-W-Bush-s-doomsday-warning-party-s-future-secret-meeting-establishment-revealed.html)** > > In April, when President George W. Bush gathered together in Texas swaths of his former aides, the ex-president made a doomsday prediction about the future of the Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/13 "2016-07-20T16:33:21Z")
> [@XT](#): > > … if Trump IS elected, then THAT might be the end of the party. This. Electing Trump is much more likely to be the end of the GOP, at least as we know it, than having him lose, probably resoundingly. If/when he loses, we in the GOP rewrite the primary rules somehow so we can pick someone with a snowball’s chance against an incumbent Hillary in 2020. Assuming she doesn’t go down in Watergate-style flames from some cover-up of some scandal, or somesuch. Even if she does - nobody is going to believe Trump if he says “I told you so”. God help us - Nixon in drag is the least-worst candidate for the highest office in the land. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/14 "2016-07-20T16:36:07Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [George W Bush's doomsday warning about Republican party's future to secret meeting revealed | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3697904/I-m-worried-Republican-president-George-W-Bush-s-doomsday-warning-party-s-future-secret-meeting-establishment-revealed.html) I don’t want to play videos at work - does the embedded video actually record GWB saying that? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/15 "2016-07-20T16:38:04Z")
There’s nothing like a thread asking for Republicans to chime in that brings the anti-Republican Dopers out to respond. Ahh, the Dopers, so predictable. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/16 "2016-07-20T16:40:42Z")
Republicans don’t “chime” in, its more like “thud!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/17 "2016-07-20T16:40:57Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t want to play videos at work - does the embedded video actually record GWB saying that? > > Regards, > Shodan Yes, GWB said that. It’s been widely reported, pretty much everywhere. But I have to say that Trump isn’t the ONLY one to blame if that comes true. W himself shares a goodly part of that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/18 "2016-07-20T16:45:43Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > There’s nothing like a thread asking for Republicans to chime in that brings the anti-Republican Dopers out to respond. Ahh, the Dopers, so predictable. You are welcome to actually respond to the question yourself, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/19 "2016-07-20T17:20:17Z")
I am a moderate registered as Republican mostly to vote against the perceived wingnuts during primary season. If Trump wins the general electron, then I consider that to be a victory for the 40% to 50% of Republicans who support Trump. I believe that the traditional GOP coalition has already split apart regardless of the outcome in November. The party itself will likely continue but likely will look very different. There is has long been a divide between the wealthier wing (donor class/pro-business/country club/inside the beltway consultants) and the working class wing of the party (outside the beltway/anti-abortion/madder than hell/don’t care about political correctness/Alex Jones type conspiracy theorists/economically struggling people otherwise unhappy with status quo), and the 2016 primary alone has ripped the divide into a huge chasm. I do not hope for Trump’s victory. I definitely do not want to see Hillary in the White House again. I plan to support Gary Johnson of the Libertarian ticket. I just cannot hold my nose and vote Trump. [QUOTE=Shodan] If/when he loses, we in the GOP rewrite the primary rules somehow so we can pick someone with a snowball’s chance against an incumbent Hillary in 2020. [/QUOTE] Plenty of RNC insiders have already proposed new rules for 2020 to prevent non-GOP registered voters from participating in selecting GOP primary candidates. I do not know if new rules have yet been established since this article: [http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/republican-primary-rules-donald-trump-223136](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/republican-primary-rules-donald-trump-223136) ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420/20 "2016-07-20T17:45:25Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > If it were that simple it would have already been done. There is always going to be someone willing to engage the Trump wing of the party, and they are still going to be strong enough to win primaries. A Republican candidate doing what you suggest loses to one trying to appeal to the “batshit baboon brigade” 10 times out of 10. This isn’t going to change by 2020 or 2024 or even 2028, demographic change is slow. Yeah, exactly. The Tea Party, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are all proof of this. The RNC could write its rules in a way that marginalizes the “Trump wing” but there is no will to do so, and this wing of the party has been dragging it down for a long time. At this point, I feel like I’d be more effective and better-represented to have my conservative-leaning vote help the Clintons of the political spectrum beat the Sanders. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-republicans-if-trump-is-elected/760420.md?page=2)