When Trump loses, what will mainstream Republicans do? Will they finally speak up?

As Donald Trump’s faltering campaign for a second term in the White House draws to a close, I wonder what will become of America’s two-party system now.

Trump has hijacked the national Republican Party. After he is gone, what will the silent remnant of the old GOP do, both in Tennessee and across the country? Will they wake up in the next phase?

So far, Trump’s self-centered attack on our American norms has been reinforced by two phenomena:

Trump’s own public behavior, which so reliably triggers the ire of his enthusiastic base of supporters.
The determined silence of almost all traditional Republicans in what we used to know as the Grand Old Party of Lincoln, Taft, Baker and Reagan

Party leaders could have countered Trump’s reckless words and extremism when they had so many opportunities to do so, but they didn’t.

Fortunately for the rest of the country, I feel that some of this foul phenomenon is dissipating now.

Tennessee supports Donald Trump. The rest of the United States should do the same and elect him president.

GOP elders recall days when Republicans and Democrats led Tennessee

Over the past few weeks, since the day President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and made way for Vice President Kamala Harris, I’ve been talking to a dozen old friends who I know are lifelong Republicans.

Former President Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin2024 conference at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, July 27, 2024.

They are not MAGAs, by any means, but what I call “traditional Republicans” and have long been some of the stalwarts of the old, pre-Trump Tennessee Republican Party. They are wise souls, and frankly, they invariably lament the Trump effect on the nation’s politics.

Of these, one hears frequent mention of how Tennessee’s longest political tradition, like that of the nation, has been characterized by elected leaders of both parties.

They include Senators Howard Baker, Bill Brock, Albert Gore (father and son), Fred Thompson, Bob Corker, Bill Frist, and Governors Winfield Dunn, Lamar Alexander, Ned McWherter, Phil Bredesen, and Bill Haslam (note that this list includes both Democrats and Republicans, not just one party or the other). In each case, competition made the candidates stronger and the government better.

Former Governors Bill Haslam, Lamar Alexander and Phil Bredesen review records during a visit to the Tennessee State Library and Archives in May 2024. Their visit highlights a new exhibit "Dear Governor," of letters to and from Tennessee governors throughout the state's history. — Former Governors Bill Haslam, Lamar Alexander and Phil Bredesen review records during a visit to the Tennessee State Library and Archives in May 2024. Their visit highlights a new “Dear Governor” exhibit of letters sent and received by Tennessee governors throughout the state’s history.

In the broader national context, it is essential now to view this current race for the White House as It’s not just another electionIt’s a chance for Americans to save their democracy as we know it, and then for traditional, pre-Trump Republicans to help restore a vibrant two-party system for another day.

The pendulum of history swings both ways: in the United States and Tennessee

Here in Tennessee, which has never been one of the “swing states” closely followed by the media in national elections, the benefits of a two-party system have been apparent over the past half-century (though not so much today).

For most of that long period, Tennessee’s state governments have alternated in power. Neither party gave it up easily, but instead fought hard to take it back at the first opportunity.

The pendulum of history swings both ways, even in this case. Tennessee’s political history over the past half-century bears that out. The problem, as now in our Capitol, arises when the pendulum swings to one extreme.

A key move by Trump has been to… absorb – and hold hostage – the dominant national Republican Party. There is now no national Republican Party policy platform Beyond Trump’s personal preferences, there are plenty of examples of this: from his abortion and immigration policies to the destruction Trump has wrought on America’s global alliances.

Will the traditional Republicans we’ve come to know find their voice once Trump loses? Will they insist on reversing this strange recent spasm of personality-driven election campaigning?