Independent candidate Evan McMullin has received support from disaffected Republican Party members who are adamant that Donald Trump does not represent them. What will those frustrated voters do after November 8?
Between 1992 and 2012, Republican presidential candidates have won the popular vote only once, and that was by less than one percent in 2004. McMullin said that the party’s chances of making the changes it needs in order to win future contests are slim.
“The reality is that some of the issues within the party have existed much longer than Donald Trump. The truth is, after 2012 at least, the party looked at its loss in the presidential election and said, ‘what changes do we need to make to have success next time?’” McMullin said. “The lessons were they needed to appeal to women and to minorities and millennials better than they had in the past. They spent the next four years failing to do that. The chances that they’ll be able to make changes are slim.”
National polling indicates that the Democratic Party victory is headed toward its fifth victory for the White House in seven elections. But will conservative voters abandon the GOP? McMullin said that the option of forming of a new party to represent conservative ideas is not off the table.
“We need a new conservative movement in this country. The question is really around whether we need a party, because if the Republican Party can’t represent conservative ideas, then it will be necessary for a new party to form,” he said. “People who I would call constitutional conservatives, they are going to have to find or create another political vehicle for their movement. It’s absolutely the case.”
As of the latest poll, McMullin now leads in Utah.
