Virginia is one of two states with a governor's race in 2021, and the Associated Press is already off to the races in seeing doom and gloom for the Republican Party. AP chief political writer Steve Peoples and his colleague Sarah Rankin foresee internal and bitter war (which makes Democrats giddy as they read along):
The national Republican Party in Washington is at war with itself, struggling to reconcile a bitter divide between former President Donald Trump’s fierce loyalists and those who want Trumpism purged from the GOP.
They need only look across the Potomac River into Virginia to see the dangers that lurk if they cannot correct course.
The labeling can be weird in the Peoples-Rankin taxonomy. In one paragraph, they discuss "exploding tensions between mainstream conservatives and pro-Trump adherents." But then shortly after, they break out the echoes of doom:
Two high-profile Republicans are threatening third-party bids that would effectively kill the GOP's chance to reclaim the governor's office. Several other candidates are trying to cobble together a coalition that features both pro-Trump extremists and mainstream moderates, an ideological blend for which there is no successful model.
There are only "extremists" and "moderates," and no ideological blend in between? Have these people ever socialized with actual conservatives? There are tensions between activists who are very devoted to Trump and others who feel that the Trump era has passed. But both of those sides can often still be identified as conservatives, if you put them together in a legislature or county council.
This is the sound of wishful thinking. AP describes how the "state GOP is disorganized and broke," and touts the prospects of ripping Republicans asunder to insure Democratic victory, starting with state senator and gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase, who's fiercely pro-Trump:
Chase is openly threatening to run as a third-party candidate if she believes the rules are being manipulated against her.
“If they disenfranchise the people of Virginia, I will declare the Republican Party is dead,” Chase warned. “I will start the Patriot Party of Virginia. And I won’t look back.”
She is not alone.
Former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman, who has repeatedly railed against Trump and his acolytes since leaving office last month, also raised the possibility of pursuing a third-party run for governor in recent days.
A third-party bid from either contender would split the Republican electorate and make it all but impossible for Republicans to win this fall.
The AP team touts Virginia as it's "trended solidly Democratic in recent years as the suburban counties outside Washington, swelling in population with a diverse blend of highly educated, well-to-do voters, have rejected the harsher edges of the GOP agenda in general, and Trump, in particular." As we know from reading many media reports, liberals think "diverse" and "highly educated, well-to-do" Americans are those smarter people who vote Democratic.
PS: AP political editor Steven Sloan dwelled on this prospect to promote the piece:
The national Republican Party in Washington is at war with itself.
— Steven Sloan (@stevenpsloan) February 6, 2021
They need only look across the Potomac River into Virginia to see the dangers that lurk if they cannot correct course.
From @sppeoples & @sarah_rankin in Richmondhttps://t.co/QPDv7hVOeO
