To survive, the GOP must learn from Trumps strengths and weaknesses

With the calamitous 2026 midterms now in the past and President Donald Trump entering his lame-duck era, questions about the future of the Republican Party abound.Chief among them: Does it have one?The age of Trump saw the GOP trade its suburban, middle-to-upper middle class voters for a more diverse, blue-collar base.Crucially, this expanded the Electoral College map for Republicans by tearing down the “Blue Wall” Democrats had erected in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.Unfortunately, it also weakened Republicans’ hold on the Sun Belt, creating an opening for the Democrats in the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas and, evidently, Mississippi — all of which fell on Tuesday after the party took Trumpism to its logical extreme.What’s obvious now is that to survive, the GOP must forge a post-Trump identity.What’s just as obvious is that it can’t return to its pre-Trump form.The post-Reagan party of Bush, McCain and Romney was decent, high-minded and directionally right on the issues.But it also lacked know-how on economic messaging, willpower on immigration enforcement and conviction across the board.The 2016-2026 party of Trump, Trump and more Trump, on the other hand, repelled the ambitious advances of the transgender ideologues, ditched the stultifying “trickle-down” messaging and closed the border.But it also embraced an off-putting cast of cheap imitators, overzealously pursued its deportation agenda, imposed sweeping, indiscriminate tariffs on enemies and allies alike and, after a series of foreign policy successes, overplayed its hand in Iran.Only a party that adopts the virtues and shakes off the shortcomings of both will be viable moving forward.The good news is that in theory, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to synthesize them.The contours of an electorally formidable GOP are clear as day.One, it must not water down the message at the altar of political correctness.“Build the Wall” was perceived by the chattering class as a gauche, even...