World News | A Test for Trumpism: Virginia Republicans Seek New Playbook

Richmond (US), Feb 6 (AP) The national Republican Party in Washington is at war with itself, struggling to reconcile a bitter divide between former President Donald Trump's fierce loyalists and those who want Trumpism purged from the GOP.

They need only look across the Potomac River into Virginia to see the dangers that lurk if they cannot correct course.

In just nine months, Virginia voters will elect a new governor in what marks the first significant test of the Republican Party's strength in the post-Trump era.

Although the state had a Republican governor as recently as 2014, it has trended solidly Democratic in recent years as the suburban counties outside Washington, swelling in population with a diverse blend of highly educated, well-to-do voters, have rejected the harsher edges of the GOP agenda in general, and Trump, in particular.

Republicans also will be closely watching whether the governor's race serves as a portent of their party ahead of next year's midterm elections as GOP leaders work to ease exploding tensions between mainstream conservatives and pro-Trump adherents. The party's future success — and maybe its survival — depends on whether Republicans in competitive states like Virginia can re-create a coalition that moves beyond Trump's hardcore base.

So far, that playbook does not exist.

And the challenges are coming from within. Two high-profile Republicans are threatening third-party bids that would effectively kill the GOP's chance to reclaim the governor's office. Several other candidates are trying to cobble together a coalition that features both pro-Trump extremists and mainstream moderates, an ideological blend for which there is no successful model.

At the center of the Virginia GOP's challenge sits gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase, a polarizing state senator who seems to have won the hearts and minds of the Trump faithful with her fiercely anti-establishment, pro-gun positions and her embrace of the false notion that Trump is the legitimate winner of the November election.

Nicknamed “Trump in heels,” Chase emulates the former president in manner and policy. She was censured by Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature just last week for exhibiting a pattern of “conduct unbecoming of a senator,” including an allegation that she described the pro-Trump mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol last month as “patriots.”

And yet, in the Republican Party remade in Trump's image over the last five years, Chase is considered a serious contender for the gubernatorial nomination.

“I like to think I'm a little more polished than President Trump. I'm a little bit more diplomatic, but I am not afraid to speak my mind,” Chase said in an interview.

Democrats have an entirely different issue. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe headlines a slate of candidates competing in a quieter nomination contest. McAuliffe, whose ties to his party's establishment have come under attack from his left flank, is quick to highlight the progressive policies he would pursue and to condemn the Republican field.

The former Democratic governor described Chase as “the Republican front-runner” during an interview.

“You've got a bunch of candidates all trying to out-Trump each other," McAuliffe told The Associated Press. “2021 will be a key test for if Trumpism is still alive.”

McAuliffe, a key ally of President Joe Biden who enjoys a massive fundraising advantage and near-universal name recognition in Virginia, is navigating a crowded primary contest of his own that features three African Americans — state senator Jennifer McClellan, former state delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — plus a self-described democratic socialist, Lee Carter.

Meanwhile, the state GOP is disorganised and broke.

Moving away from a traditional statewide primary election, the party plans to hold an in-person nominating convention on May 1, though the state's social-distancing rules would make such a gathering illegal. Party leaders are leaning toward an “unassembled” satellite convention but have not ruled out letting the state GOP's 12-member executive committee pick the nominee.

Chase is openly threatening to run as a third-party candidate if she believes the rules are being manipulated against her.

“If they disenfranchise the people of Virginia, I will declare the Republican Party is dead," Chase warned. "I will start the Patriot Party of Virginia. And I won't look back.”

She is not alone.

Former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman, who has repeatedly railed against Trump and his acolytes since leaving office last month, also raised the possibility of pursuing a third-party run for governor in recent days. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)