That phrasal template has long been invoked upon the death of the monarch. It was meant to assure subjects that a new ruler had ascended to the throne, and the crown is secure.
On Election Day, the phrase will apply to the Grand Ole Party. The former GOP will die that day. A new GOP will take its place.
But in what form? And for how long?
The nature and life expectancy of the new GOP is impossible to know. If it looks enough like the Old GOP so as to be indistinguishable in the eyes of the citizenry, it may only last as long as the American Football League (AFL) – a year short of a decade (1960-1969). The AFL merged into the National Football League. The NFL didn’t merge into the AFL.
Likewise, the new GOP, if it’s seen only a continuation of the old, could merge into the Democrat Party – often called the “Democratic” Party, even though the last primary season should dispel any reasonable notion that that organization operates democratically.
The many elected Republicans who differ little from Democrats in their statist political ideology will either put on new uniforms, or just fade away.
If Donald Trump wins the election in November, the GOP will experience a hostile takeover. Many things will change.
GOPe elected pols and operatives (emeritus politicians, strategists, career non-civil service bureaucrats, consultants, lobbyists, the denizens of GOP-aligned think tanks, GOPe-friendly media outlets and authors, etc.) will be disoriented until they find new ground under their feet. Like dinosaurs at the close of the Mesozoic era, some will be extinct.
In short, internal party turmoil will abound at all levels, and in all functions. That’s if Trump wins.
If Trump loses, many of those who supported him at the close of the GOP primary process will join the ranks of “independent” voters. They will be unwilling to follow the GOPe Mensheviks – to use an analogy from 1918 Russia – that realign for survival, as some already are doing, with the victorious Bolsheviks with whom they’ve long shared a heart-felt affinity for Big Government.
In the post mortem analysis of the GOP, the historical coroners will trace the recent pathology of dying to Bush 41 who punctuated his infamous pledged not to raise taxes by saying, “Read my lips.”
Those words, coupled with Ross Perot’s candidacy, gave us the Clintons.
Political suicide continued through Bush 43, as “W” took Karl Rove’s advice to ignore the continuous attacks from Democrats and, thereby, through his passivity, amplified the damage inflicted on his party by years of unanswered accusations.
Meanwhile, the GOP castigated its own leading conservatives in the House and Senate who were so bold as to oppose the party bosses, and then stood by in silence as Democrats and the media characterized the Tea Party as an extremist movement.
The required conclusion that many conservative voters find in this cascade of GOP failure is that, when their ideological roots are examined, there are not two parties, but only one, statist party.
The atrophy of dying continued throughout the Obama regime as the GOP failed to push back against a Federal Government that displayed an unquenchable, canine appetite for money and power. Along with the expanding money and power, often wielded in opposition to the U.S. Constitution, came the predictable corruption that money and power bring to all proliferating governments, always and everywhere.
Today, Donald Trump is not only running against Hillary Clinton and the liberal media; he’s up against much of the GOPe – expressed in overt acts of verbal opposition, and through covert opposition with silence.
So “the GOP is dead,” although it continues to breathe until November.
“Long live the GOP” heralds whatever follows the election.
And what that will be, and how long and well it will live, is very far from clear today.
