国际英语新闻:Republicans Struggle With Reality of Trump Nomination

“It’s an attempt to bring the party to some level of unity so that people will turn out and vote,” said Norm Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “The last line of defense for Republicans is the House and Senate; they want as few divisions that demoralize people as they possibly can get.”

Out of the 34 Senate seats up for re-election this November, anywhere from seven to 10 are Republican seats in jeopardy.  Ornstein said the decision to support Trump may ultimately come down to saving those seats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have dealt with the reality of Trump in their own ways – McConnell has pushed small bills through the Senate while Ryan hopes to push a bold agenda focused on national security, the economy, poverty and health care through the House. That cannot happen within a fractured Republican party.

“The more you distance yourself from your party’s nominee, the more you get a backlash from those populists who have been ardently for Trump saying see, the establishment is defying and betraying us again,” Ornstein said.  “The more you embrace Trump, the more you turn traditional conservatives and Independents away from you.”

Future of the party?

Cruz positioned himself as the potential leader of the conservative wing of the Republican Party during his concession speech Tuesday night.  Many analysts saw parallels between his speech and Ronald Reagan’s concession to Gerald Ford in 1976.  Reagan ultimately came back in 1980 to win the Republican nomination and the presidency, ushering in a new era of conservatism in American politics.  At age 45, Cruz is young enough to look toward a presidential run in 2020 but the party may be moving beyond his vision. 

“The reality is Ronald Reagan was successful in 1976 because he was the future of the Republican Party. Ted Cruz is not the future of this party,” said Hudak. 

In 2012, Republicans famously performed an “autopsy” after the loss of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, calling for the party to adapt its perspective and improve outreach to women and minorities.  Instead, the party moved in a completely different direction that ultimately ended with Trump as the nominee.

After the general election, a new reckoning will occur.  If Trump wins, his anti-establishment, anti-immigration wing of the party will clearly hold sway.  If he loses, the conservative wing of the party represented by Cruz and the older establishment wing will be left to sort out what remains of a party led by a completely unexpected nominee.

“You’re going to see an enormous battle not just for the control of the party apparatus,” said Ornstein, “but for the soul of the Republican Party and it’s not going to be resolved quickly or easily.”