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After Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential race, the Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, commissioned an internal party study to examine why the party had won the popular vote only once since 1988.

The results of that so-called autopsy were fairly obvious: The party needed to appeal to more people of color, reach out to younger voters, become more welcoming to women. Those conclusions were presented as not only a political necessity but also a moral mandate if the Republican Party were to be a governing party in a rapidly changing America.

Then Donald Trump emerged and the party threw all those conclusions out the window with an almost audible sigh of relief: Thank God we can win without pretending we really care about this stuff. That reaction was sadly predictable.

I spent decades working to elect Republicans, including Mr. Romney and four other presidential candidates, and I am here to bear reluctant witness that Mr. Trump didnt hijack the Republican Party. He is the logical conclusion of what the party became over the past 50 or so years, a natural product of the seeds of race-baiting, self-deception and anger that now dominate it. Hold Donald Trump up to a mirror and that bulging, scowling orange face is todays Republican Party.

I saw the warning signs but ignored them and chose to believe what I wanted to believe: The party wasnt just a white grievance party; there was still a big tent; the others guys were worse. Many of us in the party saw this dark side and told ourselves it was a recessive gene. We were wrong. It turned out to be the dominant gene.

What is most telling is that the Republican Party actively embraced, supported, defended and now enthusiastically identifies with a man who eagerly exploits the nations racial tensions. In our system, political parties should serve a circuit breaker function. The Republican Party never pulled the switch.

Racism is the original sin of the modern Republican Party. While many Republicans today like to mourn the absence of an intellectual voice like William Buckley, it is often overlooked that Mr. Buckley began his career as a racist defending segregation.

In the Richard Nixon White House, Pat Buchanan and Kevin Phillips wrote a re-election campaign memo headed Dividing the Democrats in which they outlined what would come to be known as the Southern Strategy. It assumes there is little Republicans can do to attract Black Americans and details a two-pronged strategy: Utilize Black support of Democrats to alienate white voters while trying to decrease that support by sowing dissension within the Democratic Party.

That strategy has worked so well that it was copied by the Russians in their 2016 efforts to help elect Mr. Trump.

In the 2000 George W. Bush campaign, on which I worked, we acknowledged the failures of Republicans to attract significant nonwhite support. When Mr. Bush called himself a compassionate conservative, some on the right attacked him, calling it an admission that conservatism had not been compassionate. That was true; it had not been. Many of us believed we could steer the party to that kinder, gentler place his father described. We were wrong.

Reading Mr. Bushs 2000 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention now is like stumbling across a document from a lost civilization, with its calls for humility, service and compassion. That message couldnt attract 20 percent in a Republican presidential primary today. If there really was a battle for the soul of the Republican Party, we lost.

There is a collective blame to be shared by those of us who have created the modern Republican Party that has so egregiously betrayed the principles it claimed to represent. My jaccuse is against us all, not a few individuals who were the most egregious.

How did this happen? How do you abandon deeply held beliefs about character, personal responsibility, foreign policy and the national debt in a matter of months? You dont. The obvious answer is those beliefs werent deeply held. What others and I thought were bedrock values turned out to be mere marketing slogans easily replaced. I feel like the guy working for Bernie Madoff who thought they were actually beating the market.

Mr. Trump has served a useful purpose by exposing the deep flaws of a major American political party. Like a heavy truck driven over a bridge on the edge of failure, he has made it impossible to ignore the long-developing fault lines of the Republican Party. A party rooted in decency and values does not embrace the anger that Mr. Trump peddles as patriotism.

This collapse of a major political party as a moral governing force is unlike anything we have seen in modern American politics. The closest parallel is the demise of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, when the dissonance between what the party said it stood for and what citizens actually experienced was so great that it was unsustainable.

This election should signal a day of reckoning for the party and all who claim it as a political identity. Will it? Ive given up hope that there are any lines of decency or normalcy that once crossed would move Republican leaders to act as if they took their oath of office more seriously than their allegiance to party. Only fear will motivate the party to change the cold fear only defeat can bring.

That defeat is looming. Will it bring desperately needed change to the Republican Party? Id like to say Im hopeful. But that would be a lie and there have been too many lies for too long.

Stuart Stevens is a Republican political consultant and the author of the forthcoming book It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump, from which this essay is adapted.

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I Hope This Is Not Another Lie About the Republican Party - The New York Times

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) The Red River Republican Women honored 100 years of womens voting rights with a Wine Tasting & Pre-Election Party Friday, July 31 at Wonderland Cafe.

Candidates speaking at the event included Tennessee State Senator Bill Powers, State Representative Jay Reedy, Circuit Court Judge Katy Olita, Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight, John Dawson, Doug Englen, Jeff Bryant, Wendy Davis, Joe Shakeenab and Sharon Massey Grimes.

The event was a fundraiser for the organization which is a local group sanctioned by the Tennessee Republican Party designed to accommodate working women. President Corinthia Elder said they wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Womens Suffrage movement.

Women voters have certainly changed the complexion of our society as a whole and have opened new opportunities for service that continues to expand in the present day, Elder said.

Funds raised will support Republican candidates in the upcoming August 6 Tennessee State Primary and the Montgomery County General Election as well as the November 3 Tennessee State General and Clarksville City Election.

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Red River Republican Women mark 100 years of women voting - Clarksville Now

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Is Tennessees Republican primary for U.S. Senate the nastiest in the country as the national publication POLITICO calls it?

It was a question for the two top GOP candidates today in midst of their negative ad blitz.

William Francis Hagerty IV is not a regular guy. He is entitled, self-dealing. His friends in the ruling class are not like you and me, said one ad for Manny Sethi that has been playing statewide.

Trump conservatives cant trust Manny Sethi. Sethi served on the board of the Massachusetts Medical Society, an organization that supported Obamacare, said an ad getting similar airplay for Bill Hagerty.

The commercials are just a bit of the ad blitz from the two frontrunners in Tennessees Republican Senate primary. They are part of POLITICOs nastiest pronouncement and so is Hagertys pronunciation of Sethis name while questioning his opponents conservative credentials.

During an early voting event on July 17, Hagerty repeatedly pronounced his main opponents name as SED-dee instead of SEH-thee.

While appearing on This Week with Bob Mueller on Thursday, Hagerty who served as the presidents U.S. Ambassador to Japan did not mention his opponent by name while repeating themes seen in the ads.

We have a situation where you have a Democrat running in a Republican primary, Hagerty told News 2s Mueller. You have someone defending Obamacare.

At exactly the same time Thursday, Sethi who is a Vanderbilt trauma surgeon, held a town hall in a Nashville suburb where he tried to counter President Trumps endorsement of Hagerty for the Republican Senate nomination.

Now more than ever, we have got to support the president, got to have his back, Sethi told the town hall event.

Like Hagerty, Sethi was asked about the race becoming the countrys nastiest Republican primary and he, too, returned to themes seen in ads.

Yeah, I think its really unfortunate, began Sethi. Its driven by my opponent and his millions of dollars of swamp money.

As the primary approaches, those ads will continue to be everywhere with whatever the candidates want to say about each other.

As for issues they might face as a U.S. Senator, both the Republican candidates expressed skepticism at extending federal unemployment payments of $600 a week.

Bob Muellers entire interview with Hagerty can be seen Saturday at 6 p.m. on News 2.

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Top Senate candidates respond to their race called the countrys nastiest Republican primary - WATE 6 On Your Side

The frontrunners for a heated Republican primary for Missouris Senate District 31 both support President Donald Trump, want to end abortion and promise to cut waste in the budget.

However, the candidates diverge on their support for tax credits and what they would protect if a budget shortfall forces cuts. A PAC tied to the Senate Conservative Caucus a six-member group thats opposed some of Republican Gov. Mike Parsons priorities around workforce development has poured more than $225,000 to support Cass County auditor and former state representative Brattin. He gained national attention in 2014 after introducing legislation that would have required women wanting an abortion to get written approval from the man who impregnated her.

Brattin faces off against Rep. Jack Bondon who has the endorsement of groups like Missouris Farm Bureau, Missourians for Life, the Missouri Chamber PAC and the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police. Bill Yarberry, a farmer, is also running in the Republican primary. District 31 is heavily Republican and spans Cass, Henry, Bates and Vernon counties. Republican Sen. Ed Emery is termed out after representing the district for eight years.

The winner will face Democratic candidate Raymond Kinney, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Heres where the candidates stand on the key issues:

JACK BONDONOccupation: Current State RepresentativeCampaign Website: https://jackbondon.com/

Coronavirus: Bondon said the governments job is to give businesses and individuals information about the virus, however, he disagrees with a government mandate.

A one size fits all policy, whether it comes across the city as big as Kansas City or across the entire state, is not the wisest choice, Bondon said. The wisest choice is to leave the decisions to the private sector, private businesses who are part of that community.

Budget: Bondon said he wants to protect programs that serve people who are vulnerable to the virus from budget cuts. He said its too early to know the full extent of the revenue shortfall so he cant yet say what he would cut.

Senate Conservative Caucus: Bondon said like Sen. Ed Emery he wont belong to the Senate Conservative Caucus. Bondon describes himself as a conservative fighter, but he wont promise or sell away my vote to a voting block and forego the opportunity and the responsibility of representing the people right here at home.

Abortion: Bondon said he wants to see all abortion ended across this entire state.

Tax Credits: Bondon supports tax credits for businesses on a case by case basis.

Certain tax credits can prove their worth and have a multiplier effect across the entire state economy, Bondon said. When we see good tax credit programs that work, they create jobs, and pay far more back into the economy than was given, I support those.

RICK BRATTINOccupation: Cass County Auditor and Former State RepresentativeCampaign Website: https://jackbondon.com/

Coronavirus: Brattin said local governments shouldnt be able to say what businesses are essential and shut down nonessential businesses in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

People need to be able to choose what they believe is their best approach, Brattin said.

Budget: Brattin called funding for schools, roads and public safety essential government functions that should be prioritized. Brattin said there's plenty of waste in government that we could really narrowly tailor cuts, but declined to give specifics.

Senate Conservative Caucus: A PAC tied to the Senate Conservative Caucus has donated to a PAC supporting Brattin. When Brattin was a state representative, he helped create the House Conservative Caucus.

Abortion: Brattin received national attention after introducing a bill in 2014 as a state representative that would bar physicians from performing an abortion until the father of the unborn child provides written, notarized consent to the abortion. The bill provides an exception if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

Tax Credits: Brattin isnt in favor of tax credits for businesses and said it hurts the states revenue.

All these corporations hire the big lobbyists to write their special law, to get them the special kickbacks, Brattin said. ... the mom and pop shops and the everyday taxpayer are the ones that are gonna fund everything.

BILL YARBERRYOccupation: FarmerCampaign Website: n/a

Coronavirus: Yarberry said the only real hope to addressing the coronavirus is a vaccine.

Budget: Yarberry said he supports tax cuts but only if the state budget can afford it. Yarberry said if the state budget is in a crisis he would support reversing a corporate income tax cut that went into effect this year. Yarberry also said he wants the number of state representatives to be reduced to save money.

Senate Conservative Caucus: Yarberry said political labels are often misleading and he thinks of himself as not the most liberal and not the most conservative but the most common sense.

Abortion: Yarberry said he supports providing counseling for women who have an unwanted pregnancy.

I hate to sound like a politician, but I actually can see both sides of this issue, Yarberry said. As a Christian, of course, I think abortion is wrong and I most likely would vote that way.

However, Yarberry said hes worried about going back to the bad old days when desperate people got not medical doctors to perform abortions.

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Meet The Republican Candidates In Missouri Senate District 31 - KCUR

Americans in both major parties now see China much more negatively than in the recent past, but Republicans are more likely than Democrats to express skepticism across a range of measures, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. The survey, conducted in June and July, comes as Donald Trump and Joe Biden both make China a key campaign issue ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

Below are five key facts exploring these partisan differences in more detail.

This analysis focuses on Republicans and Democrats views of China on a range of topics including how China has handled the coronavirus pandemic, the state of bilateral relations, and attitudes about the country more broadly. When analyzing the partisan differences, we looked at those who identify as Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party together, and the same is true for Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party. Data comes from a nationally representative survey of 1,003 U.S. adults conducted by telephone from June 16 to July 14, 2020. Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Republicans have long held more unfavorable views of China than Democrats, but unfavorable views have climbed rapidly among both parties over the past year. In the new survey, 83% of Republicans and those who lean to the Republican Party say they have an unfavorable view of China, compared with 68% of Democrats and Democratic leaners record highs for both groups. The 15 percentage point gap between the parties is also among the widest in Pew Research Center surveys dating to 2005. Republicans are also much more likely than Democrats to say they have a very unfavorable view of China (54% vs. 35%).

Republicans are much more critical of Chinas role in the coronavirus outbreak. Republicans are almost 30 percentage points more likely than Democrats to say China has done a bad job handling the coronavirus outbreak (82% vs. 54%). They are also much more likely to say China contributed to the global spread of the pandemic. Around three-quarters of Republicans (73%) say Chinas early handling of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan contributed a great deal to its global spread, compared with around four-in-ten Democrats (38%).

Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to describe China as an enemy, though this is a minority position in both parties. Around four-in-ten Republicans describe China as an enemy (38%) rather than as a competitor (53%) or partner (8%). Among Democrats, 19% describe China as an enemy, while 61% call it a competitor and 19% say they consider the country a partner.

The share of Republicans who describe China as an enemy has increased 21 percentage points since 2012, compared with a more moderate increase of 8 points among Democrats.

When it comes to views of economic ties with China, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to describe them as bad (73% vs. 63%).

Republicans generally support taking a tougher policy approach to China than Democrats. When it comes to Americas economic and trade policy, U.S. adults overall are divided over whether it is more important to build a stronger relationship with China (51%) or get tougher with it (46%). But Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to support getting tougher with China (66% vs. 33%). They are also about twice as likely (71% vs. 37%) to say the United States should hold China responsible for its role in the spread of coronavirus, even at the expense of worse relations.

Democrats, in turn, are more likely than Republicans to say that the U.S. should promote human rights in China over prioritizing economic relations with China. But at least seven-in-ten in both partisan coalitions hold this opinion.

Americans have little confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping, but Republicans are especially critical. Overall, around three-quarters of Americans (77%) have little or no confidence in President Xi to do the right thing in world affairs, including 55% who have no confidence at all in the Chinese leader. The share with no faith in Xi has increased by 10 points over the past four months and is more than double the share who said this in 2019. While Republicans and Democrats were equally likely to lack confidence in the Chinese leader in 2018 and 2019, there is a now a partisan gap: Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they have little or no faith in Xi (82% vs. 75%). Republicans are also more likely to say they have no confidence at all in Xi (61% vs. 51%).

Note: Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

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US views of China more negative among Republicans than Democrats in mid-2020 - Pew Research Center