Grand Old Party in post-Trump conundrum

Republicans are regrouping in the wake of the 2020 election. Amid allegations of massive election fraud in at least six states, many of the 75 million people who voted for Donald Trump still believe the election was stolen. But Dr. Charles W. Dunn, professor emeritus of government at Clemson University, sees hope for the Republican Party, as it has suffered before, though "maybe not this bad."

"When I look at the able and bright leaders in the Congress, I think that the Republican Party has something to offer the country," says Dunn. "The Republican Party has a deep bench. I think that the party in the end will bind together and demonstrate that to the American public."

The Democrats under a Biden presidency, however, are not so compelling. As for the threat of future election fraud, Dunn recalls how the Richard Daley Democrat machine in Chicago helped John F. Kennedy (D).

"In 1960, the election was stolen from Richard Nixon (R) with about 8,000 votes in my home state," the government professor notes. "They voted the graveyard and won. But eight years later, Nixon came back, so there's some good history there."

Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, does not agree with Dr. Dunn's positive assessment of the Grand Old Party. He observes major division among Republicans, as many of them feel betrayed by establishment lawmakers both in Congress and in state legislatures and believe the party leaders failed to properly address the allegations of election fraud in the 2020 election.

Even so, many of them are looking to take back control of Congress in the 2022 midterms.

"I've got news for you: There's no way that the Republicans -- quote, unquote – 'take back the House' in '22 if Donald Trump doesn't play a major role in that," Zawistowski submits. "Quite frankly, all the chatter that I'm hearing is that people want Trump to start a new party, that they want out of the Republican Party."

He says many voters are done with the Republican Party, as they feel, ignored, disenfranchised, unrepresented, and even hated by the party leaders, including, for example, outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who on Tuesday accused President Trump of provoking the violent crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. 

So with suggestions for President Trump to start a MAGA Party or a Patriot Party, which he thinks would be "healthy for the United States," Zawistowski says there are some major questions about 2022.

"A primary one is can we have fair elections, because we certainly didn't have a fair election," he poses, noting the 2020 election.

That, he says, is something for the states to figure out.

"I think you're going to see a lot of effort in the states to lock down and get rid of some of the things that happened, because if we don't do that, what's the point in voting?" he concludes.