It’s not too early to start rebuilding from the ashes. The party of Lincoln is in ruins. A minority of its primary voters have torched its founders’ legacy by voting for a man who combines old-school Democratic ideology, a bizarre form of hyper-violent isolationism, fringe conspiracy theories, and serial lies with an enthusiastic flock of online racists to create perhaps the most toxic electoral coalition since George Wallace. Then — to add insult to injury — multiple GOP leaders bulldozed the ashes by issuing nauseating calls for unity, foremost among them Reince Priebus:

Reince, you should resign rather than spending one more ounce of personal energy supporting a reprehensible man. So, what now? If the conservative movement is to endure in the short term and prevail in the long term, it has to combine immediate short-term responses with a number of long-term strategic changes. This is a clarifying moment in American political history — a moment that gives conservatives the opportunity to act decisively, to start anew.

Next, donors, activists, and volunteers must go all-in to preserve the Republican majority in the House (the Senate as well, but that’s a tall order). Hundreds of millions of donor dollars are sitting on the sideline, along with tens of thousands of demoralized volunteers. If the House falls, we’ll potentially see cap-and-trade, card check, expansive new gun-control regulations, and amnesty. Moreover, if the House falls, don’t assume it can be retaken with ease. A GOP that nominates Trump and potentially loses its congressional majorities risks wandering in the wilderness for years — assuming it even survives as a viable political party.

Third, conservatives should double-down on their commitment to state-level political action. Multiple red-state legislatures are now stocked with constitutional conservatives who are ready and willing to implement conservative ideas in state governance. Conservatives still have an opportunity to enact policies that will preserve liberty and liberate the free market for millions of Americans — all while presenting sharp contrasts with blue states that are choking on public-employee pensions and suppressing economic activity with high taxes and burdensome regulations. Fourth, reject the cult of celebrity in favor of building enduring, meaningful conservative cultural institutions. If the current election cycle has revealed anything, it’s demonstrated that large chunks of the celebrity Right — you know, the people who spent most of the last ten years or so calling out “RINOs” and proclaiming themselves the true arbiters of American conservatism — have proven that they’re little more than populist audience-whores, following where the lowest common denominator leads.

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Source: David French, nationalreview.com