After Trump loses, the real GOP crack-up begins

This is how the Grand Old Party will crumble

A break in the foundation.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Image courtesy Brain light / Alamy Stock Photo)

Evan McMullin might just win Utah on Nov. 8 and become the first independent candidate in close to half a century to be awarded electoral votes. But he wants you to know that his crusade against Donald Trump has evolved into something much more ambitious and far-reaching than a quixotic bid to pick off a single state in the 2016 general election. McMullin is working toward nothing less than building a whole new center-right party.

What would this new party stand for? To judge by statements from McMullin and his top aides, it would favor tax and spending cuts, as well as free trade agreements, aimed at increasing economic growth; eagerly use American military might to uphold order around the globe; and affirm social conservatism, including stringent opposition to abortion rights. And it would make a point of welcoming (in McMullin's own words) "Muslims, immigrants, and 'people who don't look like me.'"

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.