[TomGuy]

force the GOP into an open split and a full rebranding.

That may be just what it needs.

Conservatives hang on like piglets hanging on to mommy's teat. They complain about the direction the Elites are going -- to no avail. They did not change 'the party' with Goldwater, not with Reagan (for 2 terms).

Elites are moving the party to the left. They are going to same direction as the progressives/Democrats, just at a slower pace. Look at the current Congress. The Republicans have given Obama nearly everything he wants. It was the Dems who tried to sink the trade deal.

Republicans try so hard. They want to be with the kewl kids. They want the Dems to like them.

Assuming the nation survives the remainder of Obama's term and the next progressive president, the party split is inevitable. It has been inevitable at least for the past decade. It is only a question of how much more the conservatives will hang on for. It will be the conservatives who split -- because the GOPElites hold the Republican party leadership and they are not going to let go of that.

[gogeo]

The great danger to the eGOP?

Trump's statements, while not artfully delivered, show common sense. That's empowering in the same way that RR empowered a generation of conservatives. The Left has ridiculed and marginalized conservatives for decades.

It's going to be harder keeping conservatives on the eGOP reservation.