I'm not so sure about that. This change in the Republican Party might have its champion in the Dear Leader but there is no going back to what it was. This change that we have witnessed is bigger than one man and is a reflection of the altered demographics of the country. It has similarities with what we saw in the 60's with the Dixiecrats becoming the core of today's Republican Party and is in some ways an extension of it. That was primarily race based and resulted in a long term shift in political affiliation between white and black, North and South, urban and rural. Now what we've seen over the last 10 years is a huge shift where educational attainment and gender are far and away the 2 largest factors in political affiliation with the Dems becoming the party of highly educated men and particularly women and the Republicans less educated women and particularly men, with race still a factor, but not to the same extent as gender and education. This shift is driven by a Republican populist message targeted primarily at disaffected men who feel as though their economic and cultural importance is waning in today's society. As long as that message resonates with male voters, a major shift in messaging is unlikely.
