Can the Republican Party win back its own base?

Here's why conservatives cheer Trump's disloyalty

Republican party sign.

There was a time not too long ago when Democrats looked on jealously as the Republican Party acted as one smoothly functioning machine. In this veritable political monolith, members used the same language, shared the same agenda, and united in common effort whenever power was on the line. There were divisions within the party, of course, but they were subsumed within a larger endeavor, one all concerned understood to be more important than their differences. It was only a few years ago, yet today it seems like a distant memory, the GOP seemingly more fractured and complex than ever before.

The presidential primary campaign, which is supposed to unite the party behind a leader, has exposed and exacerbated these divisions to a fascinating degree. And even if no one predicted the success of Donald Trump, the most significant force currently fomenting party discord, it was foreseeable that this campaign would be anything but smooth.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.