Apres Trump

I fear there is a reason that more members of the GOP do not openly oppose Trump and his policies. Trump has become a lightning rod, who pushes what are in many cases outrageous policy changes. In doing so he has built a great deal of opposition to his policies and resentment of them. He has the support of hard core right wingers however, and first off, the GOP does not want to anger the core of its base.

Secondly, the opposition to Trump will only increase as he promotes ever more outrageous policies. This opposition will eventually cause the GOP to remove him, which will put Pence in the White House. Pence will truly push the agenda that the GOP wants to move forward with, but after the outrage over Trump, more people will be accepting of Pence and his ultra-conservative policies.

There will still be a core group of people who oppose Pence’s policies, but as the country breathes a sign of relief at Trump’s departure, there will be fewer and smaller protests over the quieter dismantling of civil rights, immigrant rights, LGBT rights, and women’s rights. Trump’s nomination of a hard line conservative to the Supreme Court has raised considerable opposition. In a year, Pence could do the same with far less opposition.

The GOP can tell its core that they gave Trump a chance, but there was too much opposition, while telling moderates they got rid of someone when it was obvious he didn’t have the support of the people. They shore up support both right and center, but need to wait until Trump has even less popularity than he does today.

After that happens, they can quietly begin cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, consumer protections, and business regulations. Too many members of Congress will be willing to move forward with that, in part because some of the most vocal opponents will still be recovering from the outrage and ouster of Trump.