Is the GOP the Zombie Party?
The ephemeral cultural skirmishes that the Republican party engages in distracts from the fact that it remains institutionally opposed to the interests of its base.
The political scientist Wallace Sayre had a saying about why academic debates and their otherwise docile belligerents tend to get so heated. “The politics of the university are so intense,” it goes, “because the stakes are so low.” The same is true of the intramural jockeying of the Republican Party, though it is portrayed as a civil war between the “pro-Trump” and “anti-Trump” factions. Regardless of who wins, the GOP does not appear keen to fundamentally change as an institution.
Miller/The Gazette via AP)
Over half a century ago, Columbia University professor Wallace Sayre coined the aphorism The politics of the university are so intense because the stakes are so low. Those were the days.