There's a lot of talk these days about what will become of the Republican Party once Donald Trump is gone. That seems a bit premature: Trump is still very much with us, and whether he wins or loses next year, he's not going anywhere until he's six feet under. Still, the man is 77 years old, so it's natural to consider what's going to be left of the hulking wreck of the GOP once he leaves this mortal coil.
The fact that Trump remains the runaway favorite to win the 2024 Republican nomination despite the 91 felony charges he faces in four different cases really says it all about where the party is today. Polling over the past couple of weeks confirms that most Republicans still claim to believe the Big Lie and say that that Trump's legal troubles are trumped-up charges made by a Democratic "deep state" conspiracy. How many Republican voters actually believe that this is unknowable, but it's clear that for now they're sticking with their man regardless. Criminal or not, they like what he's selling. No, actually they love it. And what he's selling, essentially, is transgression.
