Our Future: The Illusion of Unity in the GOP

As with anyone of minority status in America, I spent a long time thinking and reflecting on November 9. However what struck me then, and what I find especially relevant now, is that I didn't have nearly as much anxiety for the future of politics in America as everyone around me seemed to.

The GOP had gained control over every branch of the federal government, and yet even then I wasn't entirely sure labeling them a "party" was even close to accurate. Even before Trump entered the political sphere, the rise to prominence of libertarians, evangelicals, and the Tea Party had splintered American conservatism into so many contradicting ideologies that it was impossible to pin down what the GOP even stood for. And then Trump did enter the picture, and suddenly half the party's most prominent figures refused to endorse their candidate for President. Even now that he's in the Oval Office, his party only seems to begrudgingly support him as a means of furthering their agenda.

The only clear thing they had uniting them was a disdain for Obama, Hillary Clinton, and anything that could ostensibly be labeled liberal or progressive. There was no uniting ideology, no end goal that they were all trying to push towards. If anything, the recent failure of Paul Ryan's healthcare bill was a damning indication of this. How could nearly every Republican that's held elected office for the last seven years constantly ramble on about the horrors of Obamacare, and then entirely fumble the one opportunity they had to do something about it?

But then again, the term "Republican" hardly means anything anymore. Rather, Republican means the Reaganites, the moderates, the ethno-nationalists, the open carry-ers, the Christian right, the Log Cabin gays, all united around a leader that spends seven hours a day watching TV and has an ego made of porcelain.

But what the GOP lacks in ideological unity, they certainly make up for in strategy, whether they acknowledge it or not. Can you think of a single fight they've clung to since the turn of the century that hasn't been entirely reactionary? Was the fight for the "sanctity of marriage" really anything more than a fear of the boogey man liberal agenda? Or the fight to defund Planned Parenthood? Of course not. But what the GOP gets that the Democrats have never been capable of is the ability to build a narrative, and given the current state of things it's a strategy that's certainly worked out for them. In a sense it's a strategy that they needed, given as a party they had nothing else to stand for collectively. The challenge is turning a narrative that's almost entirely founded upon lies and non-issues into actual policy.

Of course they can't kill the ACA and take away millions of Americans access to healthcare, which would be political suicide. But reality and political consequences aren't something the GOP seemed to consider when they used anti-liberal everything as the basis for gaining political power. Yet when that's the only thing that's connecting what's otherwise a dozen different political groups, it's really the only strategy they had if they wanted to win elections.

The reason I wasn't nearly as anxious as everyone else seemed to be following election night, is cause frankly, I don't see what the GOP can really accomplish, at least if they expect to maintain power. They can defund the EPA and then watch as coastal cities begin to flood, drinking water becomes contaminated, and the prices of limited natural resources start to sore. They can deport immigrants and watch as their most loyal work force begins to disappear, and the health of the economy with it. Or possibly, like in the case of the healthcare bill, they'll realize most of the policy positions they ran on are completely unviable when actually written into law. They can either let their narrative run its course or back out when they realize the actual consequences, and either way they'll lose swathes of their base. A recent AP analysis stated that North Carolina's bathroom bill would likely cost the state $3.76 billion over the next 12 years. Do they think the American people are blind?

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens to the GOP as a party over the next few years. Their long-standing act is beginning to fall apart, and at this point it's only a question of how far the cracks are going to spread. With an entirely unified government they've achieved record low approval ratings and have been entirely incapable of political action, and it's hard to imagine that the American people are going to continue to believe their narrative for much longer.

Kyle Mangione-Smith is a filmmaker and student living in Boston.