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Since Trump came into the picture, the Republican party has lost much of its storytelling and unique selling point at the market of ideas and politics. The party is now mainly behaving as a corrupted organisation than a civic movement

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Jun 21, 2022·edited Jun 21, 2022Author

The loss of that unique selling point is certainly a cost of the party's current decisions, but the larger cost is the harm the party is doing to the institutions that sustain the country's heritage of freedom. The courts and the state governments have all weighed in on the 2020 election, yet their determinations are attacked by leading party members despite those institutions' having followed the civil procedures the Constitution specifies for them in the election process.

As you say, President Trump has damaged the party and undermined its civic goals. I worry that he has damaged even more.

Thank you for your thoughts on this.

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I agree with you. Because Trump's politics and behaviour has not only damaged the GOP, but also America as a nation and society. I mean, he was not able nor willing to unite more Americans and instead pitched more people against each other through racist, bigoted, populist, nationalist, undemocratic and other nasty behaviours. Trump-period is one of the worst eras in modern political history, especially when it comes to democracy.

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His tenure certainly won't be a high-water mark in American history. Moreover, Americans face significant economic and geopolitical challenges ahead. Meeting these will demand a degree of mutual civility and understanding that seems increasingly remote because of his actions and rhetoric.

But he is hardly the only one to blame for our culture wars. Ultimately, any solution to the problem comes back to us, the people.

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