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Beware the Potential GOP Civil War

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

We’re all enjoying watching the left eat itself while the radicals struggle with the moderates for complete and total control of the Democrat Party. If this continues, the Democrats could effectively trip themselves up into a massive loss in both the midterm elections and the 2024 presidential elections.

However, the GOP shouldn’t get too comfy and believe that the Democrats will effectively hand these elections over to Republicans. It’s entirely possible that Republicans will attempt to hand the elections back to Democrats with massive amounts of infighting of their own. What’s more, the soil has never been more fertile for a GOP civil war.

For instance, we can expect a battle to begin taking place over two men within the GOP for control over it all, Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

As noted by The Hill, tensions between the two have become tighter over recent months as Trump has been doing nothing short of standing in the street and shouting about his return in 2024 while DeSantis has refused to say whether or not he’d try his hand in 2024 as well:

With Trump eyeing a political comeback and DeSantis seen as a potential contender for the 2024 GOP presidential bid, the high-profile gathering in Orlando, Fla., offers a prime opportunity to take the temperature of the Republican base and pitch their political brands to the conservative activists and leaders who will play a major role in boosting the party’s next presidential nominee.

But the conference also has the potential to highlight — and possibly even deepen — the emerging divide between Trump and DeSantis, stirring both worry and intrigue within the GOP.

“I think he definitely feels threatened by the governor,” one GOP donor, who has given to both Trump and DeSantis, said of the former president. “I can’t necessarily blame him, because there are a lot of people right now who are very interested in what Ron DeSantis has to say, and I think that’s especially true at CPAC.”

Should the two men vie for the same chair, there will be fireworks. Trump’s success during his time as POTUS, as well as his attitude and combative style, have made him a GOP legend, and a legend that many voters would love to see back in power. However, DeSantis is easily the GOP’s favorite governor and has been at the forefront of the fight against every single Democrat agenda item for years now.

Both will inspire rabid loyalty, and both will have solid reasons for putting them in the highest office in the land. The majority of Republican voters will choose between these two in the end, and the battle will be ugly enough that by the time only one is standing, many GOP voters will be disaffected and walk away.

To be sure, Republicans have always been more susceptible to infighting than Democrats ever were, and it likely comes as no surprise to anyone who understands the dynamics of our political makeup in this country. The right is filled to the brim with individualists and free thinkers. We have no issues challenging norms and questioning the status quo. We have a fundamental mistrust of establishments and have no problem debating, arguing, and fighting for what we believe is right.

This is a surefire way to create warring pockets within the Republican party and we’ve demonstrated just how far we’re willing to go in order to make sure the other faction doesn’t win. To this day, many people claim that Obama never won against Romney in the 2012 presidential election, Romney lost to the rest of the GOP. Had it been united, Obama may not have stood a chance.

This may seem like a very egregious weakness, but the right’s infighting is part of what makes it strong. While Democrats rely on establishment power and media propagandizing to carry them, Republicans have elevated politicians that are wildly intelligent, incredible debaters, solid statesmen, and both philosophical and legal scholars of the highest caliber. Democrats, often avoid open debate with Republicans as often as possible under the knowledge that if they did step into the ring, they’d lose and threaten the entire agenda along with it.

Infighting is both a gift and a curse, but the stakes going forward a higher than usual. If the GOP is to safely make it through the 2024 election it must think about how it fights these battles. To be sure, they need to be fought and the best person needs to be selected for the job, but we should debate like people, not tear each other apart like animals. Failing to do so will only hand the nation back to the incompetents.

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