Can Republicans save their party? It doesn't look like it right now. They continue to cling to their orange demagogue, and that is only hurting the party.
Here is part of how Megan McArdle sees it in The Washington Post:
For six years, Trump has been systematically — okay, unsystematically — wrecking the party. At every juncture, Republicans made the same excuses for keeping quiet about it: The media was biased, so no need to actually deal with the outrageous substance of what was going on in the Oval Office. Besides, Trump’s voters would primary any Republican who stood up to him. Better to quietly work against him where possible, and otherwise bide their time until Trump passed from the scene.
Reality check, friends. Donald Trump isn’t going away unless you make him. And unless you make him, he will continue sullying the party with his scandals, sacrificing its standards and, increasingly, its electoral chances on the altar of his rapacious ego. However temporarily expedient cooperation might seem, in the long run, it’s the most dangerous course.
The Justice Department has photographs of classified documents on the Mar-a-Lago carpet, and Team Trump’s best response is to mutter about the deep state and complain that the items in the photographed were arranged to exaggerate how feckless Trump had been. I’m sure that plays well with base voters who are tuned into the Republican excuse factory, but it’s not going to make much of an impression with independent voters who already don’t think much of the previous president, and voted for Joe Biden to get a break from all the drama.
If Republicans do what they clearly want to — once again join in the chorus of “Whatabout Hillary” or pretend the latest scandal isn’t happening — they are effectively deciding to let Trump have control of the party until he dies, or becomes so diminished by old age that he is no longer capable of meddling. Individually, that might even be the rational choice. But collectively, it’s party suicide.
Trump is already turning GOP membership into a single-issue referendum on Trump: How far will you go to defend his erratic, self-centered and pointlessly belligerent behavior? How slavishly will you proclaim the lie that Trump actually won the 2020 election? This litmus test has alienated a lot of moderate voters, and produced a lot of weak, inexperienced candidates who don’t understand how elections work, and look likely to lose them come November.
This is one major reason that the “red wave” that seemed to be shaping up earlier this year is now looking more and more like a ripple — possibly even a mildly good year for Democrats, despite a troubled economy and record-low presidential approval ratings
Expect more such disappointments as long as Trump remains at the party helm. By the time he exits the scene, the “Don’t Poke the Bear” caucus might well inherit a rump party optimized for flattering his vanity rather than winning elections. So if Republicans would like there to be life after Trump, Republican politicians will have to take firm action to save the party now. That means making a concerted move against the former president, and sticking to it even when his voters get mad and things get scary. . . .
There is no path to long-term success that runs through Donald Trump; increasingly, it doesn’t even seem like there’s a path to short-term success. So however scary it feels to stand up to Trump, the idea of letting him run further amok ought to frighten Republicans even more.
