Two Views From the Right, on Republicans of Tomorrow

Bloomberg View columnists Ramesh Ponnuru and Megan McArdle discuss what they are hearing at the Republican convention in Cleveland and what it could mean for the future of the party.

Ponnuru: Senator Ted Cruz is reportedly not going to endorse Donald Trump in his convention speech and is gearing up to run for president again himself in 2020. John Kasich, another non-endorser, is also considering a run. The shared assumption: There won’t be an incumbent Republican running four years from now.

It is a widely shared view. If it’s correct, what will Trump’s lasting influence on Republicans be? Some Republicans would want to write his nomination off as a fluke: The field was crowded; Trump was a celebrity who got an unprecedented amount of media attention. And Republicans are in a relatively optimistic mood at the moment about the congressional elections.