I think it’s important to acknowledge that the Republican Party, as once constituted, no longer exists. For that, I mourn. The noble conservative values and policies that were central to Republican governance have been completely and utterly subsumed by Donald Trump’s MAGA cult of personality. The GOP does not exist. And that’s simply shameful. One result of this is that MAGA politicians are forced to contort themselves into ideological pretzels just to stay one step ahead of the retribution that follows for those who buck Dear Leader.
For example, could there be anything more disingenuous and dishonest than a politician who’s willing to find Donald Trump objectionable during one election cycle and surprisingly supportive of him in another cycle? That’s what New Hampshire has in MAGA Governor-Elect Kelly Ayotte. What has to happen in a politician’s life that they’re willing to swallow their ethics, values, and beliefs just to follow the orange brick road to the Oz of Trump World? In Ms. Ayotte’s case, she narrowly lost her bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2016 having bad-mouthed Donald Trump over the Access Hollywood tapes which exposed (once more) Trump’s pathological disrespect for women. Ms. Ayotte’s take-away from this experience? Never question Donald Trump again. So, with an open Governor’s seat in New Hampshire this year, Ms. Ayotte embraced the role of Trump acolyte and had better electoral results than Trump himself. (FYI New Hampshire has a lengthy history of sending Democrats to Washington and members of the other party to Concord.) As with so many politicians, Ms. Ayotte feeds off her status as a seemingly powerful politician. And power may be the best all-purpose elixir of them all. However, obeisance to cult leader is not a sign of power. It’s the sign that your soul has been hollowed out by a malignant force. The politician, like the political party with which they once aligned, ceases to exist in any meaningful form when fealty to Dear Leader is willingly surrendered. And just like Ayotte herself, the people of New Hampshire are the losers.
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Wanderer53's Blog 
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