'Going to rehab': Why a 'decisive' Harris victory would be 'best-case scenario' for 'the GOP’s health'

09 September 2024

Politico's Jonathan Martin recently wrote a column in which he argued that if Donald Trump loses to Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 GOP presidential election, it would be a blessing for the Republican Party.

The column has been applauded by Never Trump conservatives, many of who are supporting Harris and believe that a second Trump term would be terrible for the conservative movement. But MAGA Republicans resent the article's premise deeply, claiming that Trump has revitalized the GOP.

Martin discussed his article and the 2024 presidential election during an interview with journalist Jamie Weinstein for The Dispatch's podcast.

In the interview, posted September 9, Martin told Weinstein, "The best-case scenario for the Republican Party's health is that Trump loses and loses decisively. It will hasten the party going to rehab and starting to kick the Trump habit. Now, look, here's the challenge: a lot of the party doesn't want to go to rehab. They like it…. They don't want to give it up….. But if he loses decisively, it makes it harder for him to do the same BS he did four years ago: Stop the Steal and all that."

Martin added, "It is a sobering moment for the non-MAGA crowd," noting that Republicans have won the popular vote in only one of the United States' post-1980s presidential elections.

President George W. Bush won both the popular vote and the electoral vote in 2004. But Republicans lost the popular vote in the presidential elections of 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Martin also told Weinstein that if Harris wins and Trump "loses decisively," it "sets the Republicans up for a good midterm in 2026."

The Politico journalist argued, "It's just undeniable — at least with the non-MAGA crowd — that that's the best outcome to get the party back to a place where it can be a viable national party…. It's the same problem that they've had for nine years: The leaders of the party can't stand Trump. They find him embarrassing. They're mad at their own voters. But they don't dare say it. And if they do, they retire or they lose a primary. No, it's the same problem as ever."

Listen to The Dispatch's full interview with Jonathan Martin at this link.

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