<u+201c>congratulations on your victory @realdonaldtrump,<u+201d> tweeted jeb bush. | ap photo by nolan d. mccaskill and katie glueck 11/09/16 01:24 pm est so much for the republican resistance. reality has set in for the never trump republicans, who just days ago were strategizing about how to reshape their party in a post-trump world. now, they are coming to terms with the harsh truth: they lost, trumpism won and there is little appetite right now for any of the gop internecine warfare that raged for much of this year, even in the name of principle. story continued below <u+201c>let<u+2019>s just say the pause button just got hit on the republican civil war in the aftermath of a victory where the republican party is in a stronger position, top to bottom, than it<u+2019>s been in, say, 100 years,<u+201d> said david french, a conservative leader of the never trump movement who was so disheartened by the presidential options earlier this year that he weighed mounting his own independent bid. <u+201c>it doesn<u+2019>t mean there won<u+2019>t be strife and division. but as far as any large-scale gop conflict, that<u+2019>s not going to happen. this is a large-scale gop win. there may be some score-settling directed toward the never trumpers, but the electoral impact of never trump was marginal at best.<u+201d> it<u+2019>s a sharp departure from what many never trumpers were expecting and hoping for days ago: serious soul-searching about how to make the party more inclusive, and how to ensure that what they saw as trump<u+2019>s brand of grievance-driven populism and nativism didn<u+2019>t define the gop going forward. expecting a trump loss, many saw an opportunity to reshape their party going forward, and were eager to see the hardline views<u+2014>and people and organizations<u+2014>who helped propel trump forward, stamped out. <u+201c>the fear a lot of people have is that the energy is with the breitbart crowd, and people who would consider themselves to be more traditional republicans, who do they rally behind? who<u+2019>s the leader, the face of that?<u+201d> said a former gop party official in an interview before the election. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s a lot of concern going around.<u+201d> and with good reason. as the dust settles, it<u+2019>s not clear that they have anyone else to rally behind: trump, as the president-elect, is the new head of the gop, and some of his most pointed critics made sure to offer public expressions of support. <u+201c>best wishes for our duly elected president: may his victory speech be his guide and preserving the republic his aim,<u+201d> tweeted mitt romney, the 2012 gop nominee who delivered a speech in utah encouraging republican primary voters to support whichever candidate had the best chance to beat trump in a given state. romney, along with former florida gov. jeb bush, ohio gov. john kasich, south carolina sen. lindsey graham and nebraska sen. ben sasse, did not vote for trump. <u+201c>congratulations on your victory @realdonaldtrump,<u+201d> tweeted jeb bush, who trump savaged during the primary and dubbed <u+201c>low energy.<u+201d> <u+201c>as our president, columba and i will pray for you in the days and months to come.<u+201d> <u+201c>the american people have spoken and it<u+2019>s time to come together. congratulations president-elect @realdonaldtrump ,<u+201d> kasich, who voted for 2008 gop nominee john mccain, wrote on twitter. graham and sasse, darlings of the never trump movement, also offered congratulatory words and sounded conciliatory notes, pointing to areas where they hoped to work together. it<u+2019>s not that the conservatives who staunchly opposed trump have suddenly come around to embracing his views on the issues and tone they have long found troubling. many continue to have grave concerns, and some are considering leaving the party for good, fearing that a trump-led gop will cater, above all, to angry older white voters who propelled trump<u+2019>s candidacy, though clearly his appeal ultimately went beyond just that constituency, as democratic turnout for hillary clinton also appeared to be down. <u+201c>from my point of view, that<u+2019>s a huge problem for the republican party: is it going to be a party for all americans, not merely white americans?<u+201d> asked avik roy, a prominent conservative who has advocated for a more inclusive republican party. <u+201c>while there are going to be plenty of partisan republicans happy about trump winning, it<u+2019>s not going to mean anything over the long term unless the republican party can be a party that addresses the concerns of all americans, and builds a coalition that is demographically diverse.<u+201d> but in the short term, they<u+2019>re hoping for the best and staying focused on the good news: republican control of both chambers of congress, with enough republicans in leadership positions who take more of a traditional gop perspective on issues like free trade and an internationalist foreign policy, and have used more inclusive language toward immigrants. <u+201c>i hope some of his more heated rhetoric was campaign trail rhetoric, and when he gets into office he sits down coolly and calmly and talks with republican leaders in congress like speaker ryan,<u+201d> said brendan steinhauser, a conservative operative who was a vocal trump opponent. still, he and other conservatives maintained that conservatives need to continue to press their case, even if the never trump vehicle for doing so faces defeat. <u+201c>i guess nevertrump has been overtaken by events!<u+201d> said bill kristol, the editor of the conservative publication the weekly standard. <u+201c>but american conservatism (which incorporates classical liberalism) remains far preferable, in my view, to nanny-state progressivism or grievance-stoking populism. so we conservatives have to do three things at once: adapt to new circumstances, do a better job of persuading, and keep the flag flying.<u+201d> on twitter, he was even more blunt about the state of the movement. <u+201c>to my fellow #nevertrumpers,<u+201d> tweeted, <u+201c>let us be magnanimous losers.<u+201d> by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
diehard gop trump critics offer congrats through gritted teeth - politico
nolan d. mccaskill jack shafer