The Republican Party might find good use for that old Mark Twain quote: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." For while many are currently lamenting the demise of the GOP, it turns out such concerns are nothing new — Gallup has been asking if this is the end of the GOP since 1936:
In December 1936, Dr. George Gallup — founder and then director of the American Institute of Public Opinion, the forerunner of the Gallup poll — asked a national sample of Americans, "Do you think the Republican Party is dead?" Fortunately for the GOP, just 27 percent thought it was; although, in a follow-up question, only 31 percent believed it would win the next presidential election. [Gallup]
For what it's worth, prior to 2016 the Republican Party also apparently died in 2013. In other words, if history indeed repeats itself it might be worth drawing a quote from another cultural cornerstone, Monty Python — "I'm not dead yet!"
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