Should Trump Enablers in Congress Be Given a Pass in the Post-Trump GOP?

As Donald Trump's chances of re-election spin downward, a premature debate has broken out about what the GOP will be like post-Trump.  Some argue Trump will remain influential in the Republican Party.  Others argue that, especially if he loses in a landslide, Trump's influence on the GOP will quickly fade into nothingness.  I believe the former.  People who joined the personality cult just don't all overnight set down the Kool-Aid and go back to their lives.

Then there is the question as to what to do with those Republican members of Congress who have

Mega Trump Enabler, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

refused to hold Trump accountable and have instead chose to enable Trump to trample over the Constitution and traditional conservative principles. Those members of Congress, and Trump's supporters in the media, have allowed Trump to do untold damage to the future of the GOP and the conservative movement.  Do you give those enablers a pass because you want them in position to check President Joe Biden?  People who harbor those beliefs, people like David French and leaders of Republican Voters Against Trump, think the Republican Party will return to traditional conservative values once Trump is gone.

I don't agree.  Trump is just the symptom of the problem. Trumpism is the problem.  Defeating Trump, without defeating Trumpism, means that the GOP will just anoint new substance-free, Trump-style politicians as leaders of the party and advancing traditional conservative principles and winning general elections, will not be a priority.  The Republican Party will be in the permanent minority.

On a Bulwark Podcast this week, I heard Charlie Sykes interview an early 70s something Texan grandmother about the upcoming election.  The woman had voted for Trump in 2016 chiefly because she did not like Hillary Clinton and didn't want Bill back in the White House.  While she had concerns about Trump, she was confident that her state's Republican Senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, would keep Trump in line and make him a better President.  To her horror, for 3 1/2 years she watched Cruz and Cornyn enable the very worst instincts of Donald Trump and refused to hold him accountable for anything he did, no matter how outrageous.   She, needless to say, is in the "Burn the House Down" camp of Never Trumpers who want to destroy Trumpism to save the party.

And so am I.  The enablers in Congress and the conservative media must be held accountable.  If that means a Democratic Senate, so be it.  There need to be consequences for those Republicans refusing to do their job to check the President who constantly tramples on the Constitution, and undermines the democratic values and conservative principles they claim to support.   A President who regularly gives aid and comfort to America's enemies while undermining our allies.  A President who has thus far done absolutely nothing after learning that Vladimar Putin was likely paying bounties to the Taliban for every American soldiers killed.  A President who has has invited foreign powers to meddle in our elections.. 

Those Republican members of Congress had the opportunity and the duty to hold President Trump accountable and they instead chose to do nothing.  That is not acceptable

Burn it down.

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OOP's short takes:

• Trump tweeted this week that the Election should be delayed because voting by mail will lead to fraud.  Surely he knew that had to be approved by Congress, which would never happen.  So what was his motive.  Was he laying the groundwork for challenging the Election?  Probably.  But I would not rule out the possibility that Trump might drop out a month or two before the Election.  I know that people think being a "quitter" would be a worse offense to his psyche than losing, but I don't agree.  If he quits, claiming the election was going to be rigged against him, 95% of his followers would believe him..  If he goes through with the election and loses in a landslide, his reputation as a "winner" is forever tarnished.   Of course dropping out would require him to put down the rose-colored glasses and admit to himself he's losing badly right now. While I doubted that would happen, I am now convinced that Trump has accepted he's behind.
• Those who are worried about mail-in ballots being allowed during the pandemic focus exclusively on the CASTING of those ballots.  They need to be a lot more concerned about the COUNTING of those ballots.  In many states, Indiana included, mail-in ballots are validated by comparing signatures on the ballot envelope with what voter registration offices have on record for that voter.  They don't use trained handwriting analysts to do the comparison.  Plus many states, Indiana included, do not regularly update the signatures people have on file.  People's signatures change over time, often dramatically so.  According to a Washington Post article (behind a paywall unfortunately), tens of thousands of mail-in ballots were tossed during the primaries for signatures not matching.  What do people think is going to happen in a highly contested general election featuring Donald Trump and Joe Biden?