Who is Currently the Face of the Republican Party?

[mcpapa]

Quite the discussion on another thread, as someone said it probably deserves its own.

[mcpapa]

For better or worse, right now it is Candidate Trump. Can't be someone who didn't even attend the RNC.

 

The closest establishment candidate for the honor IMHO goes to Paul Ryan.

[hidinout]

I'd say there is no leader at this point in history , and thats part of the problem causing weakness in the R party. Trump is total outsider , and there was tremendous pressure applied from the R party to fight against him getting the nomination. But sometimes a cleaning of house has to take place to get new leadership . I think thats what happening in the R party , yes its sometimes ugly , but just for a nano second open your minds and compare whats going with the national party's . One held a honest nomination , one used their national committee to steer a candidate to victory. It was a fraud , and if you can be unbiased for just a couple seconds you can admit here , openly stating the D party has a " leader" but the drafting of that leader was a fraud . It will all wash out in the end , but there will be a cost to having either one of these terrible candidates be our " leader "

[hidinout]

Good question and should be a good thread .

[TheDeuce]

Without question, Donald Trump is the face of the Republican party right now.

[mcpapa]

^ Some of what you say may be true. But the question isn't "who's the leader" - it's "who's the face".

[hidinout]

I think you are splitting hairs on that .

[HammerTime]

Without question, Donald Trump is the face of the Republican party right now.

 

100% agree.

[Habib]

Being your party's candidate for president or being elected president makes you the de facto face of the party. That's how it's always been perceived.

 

What I said in the other thread was that when Trump makes these absurd comments or claims he's not just damaging his own electoral prospects but tarnishing the Republican brand. At the least, I think "the party that nominated Donald Trump" will be an incessant refrain in elections to come.

 

It's already allowed the Democrats to seamlessly frame themselves in this election as the pro-military, patriotic party, which has always been a sure fire given for the Republicans. (Another thread could be had on the Democratic attempts to widen the party tent this election and if that won't encourage future fracturing.)

 

But the issue I was getting at is this: when the drunkenness of this election wears off I think there will be Republican leaders who've soiled their political future by their short-sighted marriage with Trump. Surely Chris Christie's electoral future has ended. Paul Ryan will likely rue his decision to endorse Trump. Ted Cruz might have the most credibility when the party tries to pick itself back up. More than Trump is at stake when he makes these blunders.

[mcpapa]

Being your party's candidate for president or being elected president makes you the de facto face of the party. That's how it's always been perceived.

 

What I said in the other thread was that when Trump makes these absurd comments or claims he's not just damaging his own electoral prospects but tarnishing the Republican brand. At the least, I think "the party that nominated Donald Trump" will be an incessant refrain in elections to come.

 

It's already allowed the Democrats to seamlessly frame themselves in this election as the pro-military, patriotic party, which has always been a sure fire given for the Republicans. (Another thread could be had on the Democratic attempts to widen the party tent this election and if that won't encourage future fracturing.)

 

But the issue I was getting at is this: when the drunkenness of this election wears off I think there will be Republican leaders who've soiled their political future by their short-sighted marriage with Trump. Surely Chris Christie's electoral future has ended. Paul Ryan will likely rue his decision to endorse Trump. Ted Cruz might have the most credibility when the party tries to pick itself back up. More than Trump is at stake when he makes these blunders.

 

That's gonna leave a mark.

[mcpapa]

Being your party's candidate for president or being elected president makes you the de facto face of the party. That's how it's always been perceived.

 

What I said in the other thread was that when Trump makes these absurd comments or claims he's not just damaging his own electoral prospects but tarnishing the Republican brand. At the least, I think "the party that nominated Donald Trump" will be an incessant refrain in elections to come.

 

It's already allowed the Democrats to seamlessly frame themselves in this election as the pro-military, patriotic party, which has always been a sure fire given for the Republicans. (Another thread could be had on the Democratic attempts to widen the party tent this election and if that won't encourage future fracturing.)

 

But the issue I was getting at is this: when the drunkenness of this election wears off I think there will be Republican leaders who've soiled their political future by their short-sighted marriage with Trump. Surely Chris Christie's electoral future has ended. Paul Ryan will likely rue his decision to endorse Trump. Ted Cruz might have the most credibility when the party tries to pick itself back up. More than Trump is at stake when he makes these blunders.

 

The more I think on it, the more I agree with your last paragraph.

[All In]

This isn't even close, it's Trump. Everyone else is an after thought never to be heard from again(think Romney, many others i can't even remember now)

[Science Friction]

For better or worse, right now it is Candidate Trump. Can't be someone who didn't even attend the RNC.

 

The closest establishment candidate for the honor IMHO goes to Paul Ryan.

 

Candidate Trump without a doubt.The face of the GOP is a startling orange hue. Fortunate for Democrats, notso for the GOP.

[Twotoplace]

Let's review the results of all the state GOP primaries earlier in the year:

 

Trump 13.30 million votes

Cruz 7.64 million votes

Kasich 4.17 million votes

Rubio 3.48 million votes

 

The key takeaway from this is that combined, Trump and Cruz won 73.2 percent of the GOP primary vote.

 

So who's the leader of the GOP ... or who will the leader of the GOP be in 2017? It's got to be someone from the Trump-nativist or Cruz-ultraconservative factions of the party. It sure as heck won't be centrists like Kasich, Rubio, Bush and McCain.

[formerkywrestler]

It has to be Trump at this point. I would say the GOP will one day regret that.