What happened to the Republican Party? You’ve heard of it – One of the two major political collectives in America… the one that counts Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan among its heroes?
The modern GOP branded itself on ideals of fiscal responsibility, fighting dictators from the Soviet Union to Saddam Hussein, and personal morality.
Today, of course, the U.S. deficit is more than $1 trillion. New age dictators are our friends. And personal morality? Well, not so much.
The GOP change has been swift, stark, and you might be led to believe, all because of one person: Donald Trump.
But is that true? Was Trump the cause or the most logical outcome? Perhaps more importantly, is there any going back? Is the GOP now the POT – the Party of Trump? Most simply: Is the Republican Party dead?
Tim Alberta: American Carnage
That’s what I asked Tim Alberta, Politico Magazine’s Chief Political Correspondent and author of “American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump.”
Alberta’s book is the most complete, thoughtful, and entertaining analysis to date of how we got here – of what happened to the Republican Party and whether Trumpism is its singular way forward.
A lot has been written about Tim’s book. Most headlines focusing on Paul Ryan’s quotes that the President knew nothing about government and the devil’s bargain that Ryan and others made.
As you’ll hear in today’s conversation, the book is about much more than just that. You’ll also hear Tim’s answer to the question we all want to know: Can Trump be beat in 2020?