Peter Spiliakos

9. It means betting that the socialization process of GOP state-level bench has bred out all imagination and ambition.

8. It means betting that the internal opposition will always be led by complete clowns even though there are political incentives to defect.

7. But that means betting that every talented GOP politician avoids exploiting the party's fissures.

6. Maybe Republican elites can show enough class solidarity and stick to a politics of entitlement cuts/open borders/high-earner tax cuts.

5. The most likely outcome is a period of chaos as political entrepreneurs try to take advantage of the divisions that Trump has revealed.

4. But the elite Republicans don't have to face a coherent alternative. There is no "left" or "right" division.

3. The Republicans elites are fairly unified on federal-level issues, but the combination of policies they favor is toxic.

2. For the Democrats, it wasn't just Bernie pulling Clinton left on economics. Clinton pulled Bernie left on immigration and guns.

1. Suggestion: The ideological dynamics of the two parties are asymmetrical. Democrats driven by confidence and Republican by confusion.

Yes, but it is clear *now*. The Reaganite mystic chords of memory snapped. Ryan still thinks he can resurrect Kemp to win Buffalo NY.

6. And don't kid yourself. If you think Rubio was a unifier, you are telling them that you want everything entirely your own way.

5. The irony is that many of the people who say Trump is divisive take a "you'll get nothing and like it" approach to Trump supporters.

4. That segment can probably be brought along on *some* of those issues. Comprehensively ignoring them is the road to disaster.

3. The election revealed that a large segment of the GOP electorate is skeptical of free trade, expanding immigration, cutting entitlements.

2. I despise Trump as much as anyone, but the assumption that the GOP would unify on a candidate who ran on donor class "optimism" is nuts.

1. Suggestion: Trump is more of a symptom of GOP division than a cause.

@MZHemingway Wait, @matthewwalther said what about Appetite for Destruction?