The cover of the April 21 issue of The Economist asked, “What’s become of the Republican Party?” Inside, the article was headlined, “How the elephant got its Trump,” beginning with a quote from a speech that Sen. Jeff Flake made in March: “Never has a party abandoned, fled its principles and deeply held beliefs so quickly as my party did in the face of the nativist juggernaut.” …
The truth is that the GOP’s changes long preceded the Trump candidacy. They go back to the advent of the tea-party movement and even to the Gingrich revolution of 1994, when the Republican establishment and conventions began to be overturned. The Trump presidency and the current dynamic are the culmination of a trend that some believe is a partisan realignment. CONT.
Charlie Cook