When the dust settles..........

[Lincoln Republican]

..........and the Trump era comes to an end

Will the Republican Party stand as the dominant force in U.S. politics?

Or will the Republican Party be in tatters and in a shambles?

Please discuss.

[IceSpear]

Not so bold prediction: Trump will be a distant memory to the vast majority of Americans 4 years from now if he loses re-election, and 8 years from now if he wins re-election.

[Dabeav]

Both parties are and will be in greater disorder as the extremists (Cortez socialists, true Trumpers) push out the centrists.  A new center party may rise from the ashes.

[Yank2133]

Both parties are and will be in greater disorder as the extremists (Cortez socialists, true Trumpers) push out the centrists.  A new center party may rise from the ashes.

Lol, what a lazy take.

[ON Progressive]

Not so bold prediction: Trump will be a distant memory to the vast majority of Americans 4 years from now if he loses re-election, and 8 years from now if he wins re-election.

Pretty much this. Republicans got smashed at the ballot box for GWB in 2006 and 2008, and still got a massive wave just two years later.

[Crumpets]

I think it'll match the legacy of the Bush 43 administration - the GOP will be as competitive as ever, but Trump will be relatively popular compared to 2024 presidential ticket Alex Jones/Tila Tequila, and will have a retrospective approval rating of 55% or so. Meanwhile, the Democrats will also be as competitive as ever with half the country calling them Communists and the other half calling them corporatist sellouts, even as their policies are basically just Obamaism + medicare for all.

[pbrower2a]

One of two things will happen. One is that Donald Trump will be disgraced and discredited, and he will have largely discredited and disgraced the Republican party to the extent that it becomes as it was in the 1930s, a default alternative to opponents of machine politics and to people who can't get ahead in the Democratic Party. 

The other is that Donald Trump succeeds in making America an authoritarian society that has either marginalized or outlawed the Democratic Party  in an America in which Donald Trump is seen as the transformative figure of American politics. This is the sort of country in which all means of personal success, such as college admission or getting a government-sponsored loan, or advancing in the Armed Forces, depends upon an early start in politicized  youth organizations instead of Scouting, FFA, 4-H, religious youth leagues, Boys' or Girls' clubs, the Y, or Masonic groups.

Or emigrating. Think of all the Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese surnames among the French today. If you wonder how the French made up for the losses of World War I -- that's how. 

This is the sort of America in which Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and perhaps even FDR are transmuted into advocates of despotism. One becomes a victim, a rebel, or a perpetrator in such an America until that America does something really stupid that brings the whole system down.

[SteveRogers]

I think we’re probably in for at least another 10 years (give or take) of continued back-and-forth control of the White House and Congress before either party settles into an actual period of dominance.

[IceSpear]

One of two things will happen. One is that Donald Trump will be disgraced and discredited, and he will have largely discredited and disgraced the Republican party to the extent that it becomes as it was in the 1930s, a default alternative to opponents of machine politics and to people who can't get ahead in the Democratic Party. 

The other is that Donald Trump succeeds in making America an authoritarian society that has either marginalized or outlawed the Democratic Party  in an America in which Donald Trump is seen as the transformative figure of American politics. This is the sort of country in which all means of personal success, such as college admission or getting a government-sponsored loan, or advancing in the Armed Forces, depends upon an early start in politicized  youth organizations instead of Scouting, FFA, 4-H, religious youth leagues, Boys' or Girls' clubs, the Y, or Masonic groups.

Or emigrating. Think of all the Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese surnames among the French today. If you wonder how the French made up for the losses of World War I -- that's how. 

This is the sort of America in which Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and perhaps even FDR are transmuted into advocates of despotism. One becomes a victim, a rebel, or a perpetrator in such an America until that America does something really stupid that brings the whole system down.

Hot take.

You forgot the sane option: life goes on more or less as normal.

[pbrower2a]

One of two things will happen. One is that Donald Trump will be disgraced and discredited, and he will have largely discredited and disgraced the Republican party to the extent that it becomes as it was in the 1930s, a default alternative to opponents of machine politics and to people who can't get ahead in the Democratic Party. 

The other is that Donald Trump succeeds in making America an authoritarian society that has either marginalized or outlawed the Democratic Party  in an America in which Donald Trump is seen as the transformative figure of American politics. This is the sort of country in which all means of personal success, such as college admission or getting a government-sponsored loan, or advancing in the Armed Forces, depends upon an early start in politicized  youth organizations instead of Scouting, FFA, 4-H, religious youth leagues, Boys' or Girls' clubs, the Y, or Masonic groups.

Or emigrating. Think of all the Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese surnames among the French today. If you wonder how the French made up for the losses of World War I -- that's how. 

This is the sort of America in which Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and perhaps even FDR are transmuted into advocates of despotism. One becomes a victim, a rebel, or a perpetrator in such an America until that America does something really stupid that brings the whole system down.

Hot take.

You forgot the sane option: life goes on more or less as normal.

Life going on more or less as normal? That is compatible with the first. A political equivalent of Apartheid is compatible with the second one.

Political sanity requires that America not careen between extremes of Left and Right.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Not so bold prediction: Trump will be a distant memory to the vast majority of Americans 4 years from now if he loses re-election, and 8 years from now if he wins re-election.

Yep. Neither party will never truly die. Our politics seem to be following an unending pattern.