Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

GOP Civil War Is Clinton's to Win

Republicans prepare to make an even bigger mess.

October 27, 2016 at 6:19 PM UTC

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

If Hillary Clinton wins the election on Nov. 8, as seems likely, and Republicans retain control of at least the House of Representatives, which also seems probable, there will be countless areas of contention between the president and the GOP majority. But there will also be one powerful goal they share: driving the last, bedraggled moderates, and even a few frustrated conservatives, clear out of the Republican Party.

Donald Trump has done his best to send moderate suburban women fleeing. His campaign vacillates between a general theme of Men Behaving Badly and the more specific genre of Men Behaving Badly Toward Women. His uncanny surrogates Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich remain staples of the cable shows, with Gingrich this week seeking to duck questions about Trump's alleged sexual predations by chastising Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly for being obsessed with sex.