If enough stars align that Trump becomes ineligible to run again, he looks a lot more compelling. Take Trump off the ballot and you’re going to end up with a lot of the candidates outbatshitting each other trying to fill the Trump hole, both fragmenting that bloc, and driving away the Never Trump voters. I suspect a candidate like Pence also resonates more with lifelong social-conservative Republicans than the 4chan shitpost-a-goon-into-the-White-House crowd. He could end up getting the nomination in a brokered convention as “least objectionable option”.
If the Trump train is derailed enough that treason goes out of style, “I personally refused to sacrifice the Republic” is a good look. They’ll want to disassociate from the January 6 crowd as much as possible to avoid long-term damage.
Well, that well could be the endgame.
If enough stars align that Trump becomes ineligible to run again, he looks a lot more compelling. Take Trump off the ballot and you’re going to end up with a lot of the candidates outbatshitting each other trying to fill the Trump hole, both fragmenting that bloc, and driving away the Never Trump voters. I suspect a candidate like Pence also resonates more with lifelong social-conservative Republicans than the 4chan shitpost-a-goon-into-the-White-House crowd. He could end up getting the nomination in a brokered convention as “least objectionable option”.
If the Trump train is derailed enough that treason goes out of style, “I personally refused to sacrifice the Republic” is a good look. They’ll want to disassociate from the January 6 crowd as much as possible to avoid long-term damage.