GOP: Not a Civil War, an Infestation of Leftism

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Former adviser to President Trump, and Breitbart head, Stephen Bannon has declared war on the Republican Party establishment, and the Democrats are thrilled about it.  The liberal left believes what they are witnessing is a civil war in the Republican Party between the "alt-right," Trump supporters, and the moderate wing of the GOP.  In truth, what we are witnessing is not a civil war, but a realization that the Republican Party has a severe leftist infestation, and Bannon wants to play the part of pest control.

President Trump is playing the game with the moderates he has to play.  He knows he has to make nice with the likes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or House Speaker Paul Ryan if he wants to get anything accomplished.  Bannon thinks otherwise.  He wants to chase out of Washington those who are pouring more muck into the swamp so that Trump can get back on track with the agenda he ran on during the 2016 Presidential Election.

The media claims that the attacks against incumbent GOP senators by Bannon will endanger GOP control of the Senate, but what is really happening is that as the leftists in the Republican Party are being revealed by Bannon, some of them are moving towards Trump so as to keep their seat, and in some cases, in their States, more conservative candidates are bubbling to the surface.  In truth, I don't fear the Democrats regaining the Senate in 2018.  I believe the Republican Party will gain more seats, but the moderates will be purged during the process.  And, if that happens, and if the Republican Party gains in the House of Representatives at the same time, we may see pure panic in the Democrat Party - a party who seems to think that doubling down on their cultural Marxism agenda is the key to winning.

The Democrats are pushing the narrative that the Republican Congress still has not passed a single piece of legislation proposed by Trump, and that the public's disapproval of Congress will make them run to the Democrats for a change.  In reality, Trump's Congress has been very successful legislatively, despite the deep state controlling about 60% of the bureaucracy, and doing all it can to stop him and the Republicans from achieving success.

Bannon's plan to promote more conservative primary challengers against key Republicans in Congress may spell doom for the Democrats if he is successful.  In truth, much of the Republican Party's electoral failures have been a result of candidates refusing to be conservative enough.  Most of the independent voters are not moderates, as we have come to believe, but are disgruntled conservatives who are waiting for the GOP to put out candidates who are more than Democrat-light.  A successful purge of the RINO population in the Republican Party could get the GOP back on a track that matches the party's platform, and in that case, except in places like California, the electoral slaughter against Democrats could actually deepen in years to come.

That all said, if the leftist establishment, which infects both parties, pulls off a successful propaganda campaign against the rising tide of conservatism, and we see success for more moderate or establishment Republicans in primaries, the whole thing could possibly backfire.  But, if Bannon's strategy works, not only would Trump be a shoe-in for reelection in 2020, but he'd be in office with a much more conservative Congress, with both Houses working with him each step of the way (as long as Trump's platform also remains conservative).  And, if that were to happen, it would not only spur an increase in the velocity of the Democrat Party's death spiral, but the leftist lean of the media and entertainment industry may begin to die a little more, as well.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary