What the Republican Vote on Trump's Impeachment Tells Us About Who Defines the Party

In 1968, Richard Nixon won the presidential election with 43% of the popular vote. George Wallace, a southern racist and segregationist, won 14% of the vote and 5 southern states. Nixon wooed and won the southern segregationists during his first term. In 1972, Nixon won 61% of the popular vote by winning the 5 states Wallace had won. It was only the second time in the GOP's 100+ year history that it had won those states. This changed the party.

Since welcoming southern racists to the party, there has been an open question about who Republicans are. Are they simply folks who strongly prefer corporate institutions to government institutions or are they the spiritual allies to the southerners who had to be forced to end slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow laws? That is, are these folks who have different values or folks who only do the right thing when forced to? Is it the party of staid businessmen who don't much respect politicians or the party of good ol' boys who don't much respect the law? In personal terms, is the party better represented by John McCain and Mitt Romney (the GOP's two presidential candidates prior to 2016, strong conservatives who valued honor and institutions more than personal or party interests) or the party of Trump?

With today's impeachment vote of 43 to 7 among Senate Republicans to acquit Trump, we got a clear count on how the party now breaks out. 14% honorable folks who prefer business solutions and 86% good old boys who aren't much offended by the occasional violent storming of the Capitol. This GOP is now more defined by the politics of George Wallace than Abraham Lincoln.