I apologize if this type of thread has already floated around.
I’m curious as to where the GOP is headed post-Trump - I don’t see another Romney or McCain leading the party anytime soon.
The only person that comes to mind, as unsettling as it sounds, is Donald Trump Jr.
Who do you think will be the face of the party 4 years from now?
No love for Ivanka?
Well people thought it could not get worse than Bush II.
It obviously could.
So by that standard, an actual Klansman?
David Duke is still around
And this is part of the problem with the GOP turning into a party of Trump sycophants: When all you do is kiss the Big Man’s arse, no one can imagine you becoming the Big Man yourself. Is there anyone in the current GOP leadership you could see taking over from Trump?
It will be someone none of us expect.
I think Ted Nugent has a shot. He has plenty of media appearances. He says stupid, hateful and violent things. He’s ludicrously unqualified. He’s very pro-Trump. All characteristics that the current Republican supporters seem to love.
I wish I was kidding.
This is a fascinating question. And while I understand the reluctance of many conservative dopers to post and risk anti-Donald pushback, this would appear to be a relatively safer subject for them to discuss. After Trump, where do you want/see the party going? And behind whom?
As a libbie, I have no idea. I thought the reactionary wing of the GOP was dead after the 2012 autopsy was performed by the pros in the Republican Party. I was pretty wrong about that.
Could we spend a moment defining what “after Trump” means? The premise that there is a GOP independent of the Trump party is not a sure thing. Yes, at some point in the future Trump will not be in the White House, but he will likely demand that he remain the leader of the party. Who will be able to stand up to him and tell him “No, that’s not how it works!” How has that worked out so far?
I’m going with the assumptions that
A. Trump, a 73 year-old, will not live forever
B. The US will remain for all intents and purposes a two-party country, one of which is not the Democratic Party
Granted assumption B is less certain, but I guess needs to be assumed for the sake of the OP 
It’ll probably be a younger, more competent version of Trump. Someone like Tom Cotton, who can push most of the same buttons Trump did, but doesn’t Tweet like a teenager and has a much better grasp of domestic/international politics.
I had said the same thing about him back in 2016. He’s a more conventional Republican candidate type (Right Wing, Military background, not looney-tunes).
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. There’s clearly only one person with the necessary skill set to be Donald Trump’s successor.
The real question becomes not ‘how will succeed Trump’ but rather ‘will the Republican party continue to succeed with Trump’?
If the success continues they’ll find another demogogue who uses roughly the same playbook.
If in 2020 they get their ass handed to them for a second straight election cycle there’ll be attempts to find a leader who pulls back on the demogoguery. A return to a more pro-business, less crazy approach.
The problem with the second scenario is that the existing party has set up their electorate/primary system in such a way that the craziest among them control who makes the ballot and, if there’s a sea change and the Trump brand becomes a negative, then they could be looking at some real time in the wilderness.
Republicans got their asses pretty much handed to them in 2012 and party leaders recommended a more welcoming attitude towards minorities of all kinds (but particularly Hispanic voters). Donald Trump pounded that seemingly sensible idea into dust, played instead to old timey conservative grievances, won the White House by the narrowest of margins and is favored to win again, even after anyone undecided about him in 2016 has had four full years to wash away any previous doubts about his character.
I keep thinking that changing demographics doom reactionary conservatism but they keep drumming up just enough fear about the rise of “domestic socialism” to remain a continuing force in U.S. politics. Maybe we haven’t seen anything yet; the GOP still controls the presidency and the Senate. It may take the loss of both before we see everything about Republican democratic ideals stripped bare for all to fear.
Yeah, Tom Cotton. He really could be the guy. He’s as smart as he is mean. They’ll need someone much smarter than the Don to fight the upcoming battles about how we improve and organize our elections.
Yup. I don’t know who Tom Cotton is personally but the next leader of the GOP will have the same hatred for democracy and love for white supremacy that Trump does, but he won’t be incompetent the way Trump is.
Basically a more dangerous version of Trump. Also take into account that when this GOP person becomes president in 2028 or so, the courts will have been stacked with GOP yes men due to McConnell stacking the appellate courts.
The problem with changing demographics is that they are all concentrated in areas that are already blue.
In 2004 the democrat won California by about 1.2 million votes. In 2016 the democrat won by over 4 million votes. Those extra votes don’t mean anything since the state is already blue.
I think it very unlikely they’re going to wrecked in this upcoming election. I predict the presidential election, regardless of winner, to be razor thin again. The margins will be small. They will probably be even smaller than the last election, which from a statistical point of view was almost a tie. Trump still has 40 something percent approval rating. It is madness. How can it not be zero??? Who is still supporting this guy? How? I don’t get it. But it doesn’t matter, the fact is he has enough support to make the election close, win or lose. The GOP will do fine in the Senate. They might lose some seats in Congress.
I think the Republicans will replace Trump with another Trump. I think they’re very concerned that if the put up a normal Republican, they’ll be accused by their own base as selling out on the Trump ideals. I really honestly believe that Ted Nugent (who has indicated he might want to run before) will run. And I think he has a an actual chance (albeit very small). He checks all the boxes:
1 - Very pro-gun
2 - Very anti-abortion
3 - Hates immigrants
4 - Violent rhetoric
5 - Will piss off the libtards
I don’t the Republicans have the guts to run a non-Trumpian figure now. They are the party of Trump, and they will be until they get wrecked in an election. The only people that can stop the decline of the Republican party are Republican voters. Good luck getting them to vote country over party.
So the two main predictions are
Dwelling on this a bit, I think it could realistically go either way. However, I’m thinking that it would be someone who sets off the highest amount of “librul tears” so I’m guessing option 2.
I believe Lindsay Graham is maneuvering for the post-Trump position.
If Trump loses in 2020, which I don’t really see happening, it will depend on the narrative / perception that prevails of why he lost. Too extreme? Not extreme enough? Whoever wins that fight, gets to define their next candidate.
If Trumps wins in 2020, the 2024 elections will be more interesting. I expect it’ll depend on the state of the economy. If it’s still doing well, the recipe will likely be more of the same.