If Trump gets crushed, what's next for the GOP?

[Xing]

If Trump loses handily to Hillary (let's say he does worse than Romney,) and Republicans suffer bad losses in the Senate and the House, how will Republicans respond? Will they work on their image, and make some effort to work with Hillary, while still stating their disagreements, or will they just look to 2018, and focus on making gains? What will be the lasting impact of a Trump loss for the GOP?

[Ljube]

Curtains.

[Wisconsin+17]

Cruz to victory in 2020.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Anyone who answers with certainty is lying to themselves.

[Blue3]

"Trump was a liberal, let's nominate a real conservative"

[RI]

The GOP will burn down DC before they work with Hillary. A Hillary presidency will be an absolute sh*tshow. Nothing will get accomplished, the GOP will gain seats in 2018, and we'll go through this all again in 2020.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

They'd probably double down on Trump's "NOT A TRUE CONSERVATIVE" trademark and push to nominate someone in the Cruz/Cotton wing of the party for 2020

[Mehmentum]

Chaos.

[kyc0705]

Try to push through a candidate for 2020 that hails from their diehard conservative/evangelical wing (Cruz),  and God help us all if it works.

EDIT: Or not. Like someone else said, nobody has a clue.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Hopefully retreat and modify their party platform for the future and also to reform the primary process.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Anyone who answers with certainty is lying to themselves.

Yeah, this. No-one has a clue.

[Virginiá]

I imagine there will be a lot of pressure to double down on obstructionism and the tactics of the past 8 years, so as to make gains in 2018. Think about it - if Republicans believe that strategy will deliver a wave, it will be hard to resist, even if it hurts their brand even more. In this context, it might be fair to say the GOP is hitting rock bottom is their addiction to winning elections, no matter the cost.

I just find it difficult at this point to see substantial collaboration between Hillary and Republicans in Congress. I feel they might make some decent deals, but at the same time, this is the GOP who has spent years now trying to convince voters/their base that she is a criminal, and Trump has really ratcheted that up hard. For Republicans to work with her will come off to their voters as them being untrustworthy and working with who they said was a criminal.

Do I think they will make serious efforts to reform their brand? Probably not. Not until they lose big in more elections. If they lose in 2020 as well, then that may be the breaking point. It will have meant that they have only held the White House for 8 of the past 28 years, and that could create substantial pressure on the party to actually try and change.

Anyway, who really knows. Interesting to wonder about though.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Anyone who answers with certainty is lying to themselves.

[IceSpear]

They will wait for their big victory in 2018.

[Kingpoleon]

If he gets <175, I'd say 2020 is their prime time. Anyone from Sasse to Kasich could plausibly win then.

Also, I expect at least three(Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota) seats would be Lean R. Florida, Virginia, and Ohio would all be pretty vulnerable. I don't know about Tester and Manchin.

[RINO Tom]

Unfortunately for them, Trump losing by say 12% and throwing even the House to the Dems tees up 2020 almost perfectly for Cruz, who would lose to Clinton or easily to Kaine barring a deep recession.  I don't know where we go from there, but it's clear that there's a battle for the soul of the GOP between ideological conservatives and the emerging non-ideological nationalists.  But as they try to sort it all out, they could get stuck in the position of the 1920's Dems until the next deep recession, give or take a short senate majority.

I'm still under the belief that Trump's appeal is specific to him, and I highly doubt this "Trumpist" wing will ever materialize in 2020.  I'll wait to be proven wrong, but I predict a battle between the evangelicals and the establishment again, with the candidate who convinces run-of-the-mill conservatives he or she is their guy or gal will win.  I'll wait to be proven wrong.

[5280]

If the GOP loses 3 presidential elections, it time to radically change your party platform and positions.

[Sedona]

Obviously no one really knows, but I have my predictions.

I feel like the GOP would change after a landslide loss to Hillary, but not necessarily for the better.  The Cruz wing of the party would win the nomination, though perhaps not Cruz himself, on the ridiculous argument that Trump lost because he was "not a real conservative".  Hillary will win reelection against the essentially unelectable Cruz/Cotton/etc., and the GOP will be left scratching their heads wondering how they lost, just like in 2012.

I think that four consecutive nationwide losses might be enough for the GOP to finally take the 2012 autopsy seriously.  If they do moderate their policies, and reform their message, then they could be in a good position to win in 2024.  If they refuse to change though, I have no idea what could possibly happen.  Whatever it is, it wouldn't be good for the GOP.

[5280]

Obviously no one really knows, but I have my predictions.

I feel like the GOP would change after a landslide loss to Hillary, but not necessarily for the better.  The Cruz wing of the party would win the nomination, though perhaps not Cruz himself, on the ridiculous argument that Trump lost because he was "not a real conservative".  Hillary will win reelection against the essentially unelectable Cruz/Cotton/etc., and the GOP will be left scratching their heads wondering how they lost, just like in 2012.

I think that four consecutive nationwide losses might be enough for the GOP to finally take the 2012 autopsy seriously.  If they do moderate their policies, and reform their message, then they could be in a good position to win in 2024.  If they refuse to change though, I have no idea what could possibly happen.  Whatever it is, it wouldn't be good for the GOP.

After 4 straight election losses for the GOP, Democratic fatigue starts to settle in more.

[The Ex-Factor]

Republicans are still going to make big gains in 2018 and control most of America's state legislatures and governorships. That will preclude any drastic party change I think.

[The Advocate]

The only honest answer is that no one can accurately predict 2020 any more than we could have predicted 2016 from the last general election. With that said, there are a few possibilities:

•   As usual, the GOP learns absolutely nothing from this election and claims “Trump was a liberal, now we must nominate a true conservative,” thus pandering to their right-wing base, but with a more acceptable candidate
•   The GOP acts like they learned from their mistakes and tries to push through an establishment style candidate who’s moderate on social issues and very conservative on economic ones
•   The GOP actually does some soul searching and acknowledges the demands of the base of their party will result in the political wilderness for another 4 years, thus realizing the best possible candidate would be a more moderate, less sociopathic version of Trump who’s slightly nationalistic on economic issues and moderate on social issues

[WVdemocrat]

All depends on what happens in Hillary's first term. Has ISIS been defeated or is it on the march? What's happening on the foreign policy front in general? Is the economy still improving or does it go into recession? How much of Hillary's domestic agenda is she able to push through Congress? Any major scandals?

Without knowing any of that, my best guess is that they'll say Trump wasn't a real conservative and Cruz walks away with the nomination in 2020. The biggest question will be whether the election is a domestic election or a foreign policy election. If the world is looking more uncertain (ISIS on the march, Europe disintegrating, Russia empowered, etc), then it might fuel another Trumpian character to nomination. If the economy is in the slumps but ISIS is in a state of collapse, I think the GOP might return to its old ways and those conditions might allow an establishment Pub like Ryan or Rubio, who will advertise trickle-down economics and fiscal responsibility as the centerpiece of their platform, to be nominated.

Most likely it goes further to the right, and as to whether they nominate a Trumpian candidate or a "true conservative" is up in the air.

[Virginiá]

Obviously no one really knows, but I have my predictions.

I feel like the GOP would change after a landslide loss to Hillary, but not necessarily for the better.  The Cruz wing of the party would win the nomination, though perhaps not Cruz himself, on the ridiculous argument that Trump lost because he was "not a real conservative".  Hillary will win reelection against the essentially unelectable Cruz/Cotton/etc., and the GOP will be left scratching their heads wondering how they lost, just like in 2012.

I think that four consecutive nationwide losses might be enough for the GOP to finally take the 2012 autopsy seriously.  If they do moderate their policies, and reform their message, then they could be in a good position to win in 2024.  If they refuse to change though, I have no idea what could possibly happen.  Whatever it is, it wouldn't be good for the GOP.

After 4 straight election losses for the GOP, Democratic fatigue starts to settle in more.

If Hillary or whoever the Democratic president is in 2020 - 2024 has high approval ratings (or something like Obama's right now), then it won't matter. There is no "rule" of politics limiting parties to a certain number of terms in the White House. If people are happy with the incumbent's party and Democrats continue to expand or even just maintain their electoral college advantage, then they can win again and again.

Further, if Republicans continue to perform terribly with younger voters and fail to make more significant inroads in any older demographics, then they will find themselves running too low on support. Their base is aging and dying off by the day. If they can't pick up new voters, then it is really irrelevant how long a Democrat has been in the White House. If Democrats and independents are satisfied, then Republicans can whine and cry all they want, but it won't change the fact that they won't have the support to vote in one of their own.

[Bojack Horseman]

They'd probably double down on Trump's "NOT A TRUE CONSERVATIVE" trademark and push to nominate someone in the Cruz/Cotton wing of the party for 2020

Which is precisely why I think Republicans will lose yet again in 2020. They won't learn their lesson and will nominate yet another bozo and blow yet another winnable election.

[5280]

Obviously no one really knows, but I have my predictions.

I feel like the GOP would change after a landslide loss to Hillary, but not necessarily for the better.  The Cruz wing of the party would win the nomination, though perhaps not Cruz himself, on the ridiculous argument that Trump lost because he was "not a real conservative".  Hillary will win reelection against the essentially unelectable Cruz/Cotton/etc., and the GOP will be left scratching their heads wondering how they lost, just like in 2012.

I think that four consecutive nationwide losses might be enough for the GOP to finally take the 2012 autopsy seriously.  If they do moderate their policies, and reform their message, then they could be in a good position to win in 2024.  If they refuse to change though, I have no idea what could possibly happen.  Whatever it is, it wouldn't be good for the GOP.

After 4 straight election losses for the GOP, Democratic fatigue starts to settle in more.

If Hillary or whoever the Democratic president is in 2020 - 2024 has high approval ratings (or something like Obama's right now), then it won't matter. There is no "rule" of politics limiting parties to a certain number of terms in the White House. If people are happy with the incumbent's party and Democrats continue to expand or even just maintain their electoral college advantage, then they can win again and again.

Further, if Republicans continue to perform terribly with younger voters and fail to make more significant inroads in any older demographics, then they will find themselves running too low on support. Their base is aging and dying off by the day. If they can't pick up new voters, then it is really irrelevant how long a Democrat has been in the White House. If Democrats and independents are satisfied, then Republicans can whine and cry all they want, but it won't change the fact that they won't have the support to vote in one of their own.

How is having ONE party dominance in the white house healthy for the country?