You have the 'traditional' Conservative (with a capital 'C') stream, who probably represent the last bastion of what Republican Party ought (for lack of a better term) to be. Sensible, intelligent pragmatists who have conservative views and who genuinely believe that a smaller government is what's best but who believe that everyone deserves a fair crack of the whip. Think John Huntsman. Hell, think George HW Bush. Think Campaign Kasich, if not necessarily Governor Kasich.
Then you have the Money Party, arguably an offshoot of the above who are firm in their belief that the ultra rich really are 'job creators' and deserve special consideration. Of course, they're not all ultra rich themselves. Many are 'temporarily embarrassed billionaires'. But a lot of them are rich, and always have been, and have grown up insulated from 'real' people. They tend to be out of touch, corporatist and, whether unintentionally or intentionally, callous. They're the 'let them eat cake' faction. Mitt Romney is arguably a representative, and richer yet are people like Sheldon Adelson, who are undeniably looking out for themselves and to hell with everybody else. These guys are master manipulators, and are used to getting their own way. They're not above exploiting other factions.
Among those exploited factions are the GUNS JESUS Republicans, who are generally not very well off, under-educated white social conservatives or, less kindly, the Redneck faction. These are the Trailer Park Republicans, who are easily manipulated by the Moneypublicans. These 'grass roots' folks are the reason deep red states take in so much Federal money, while braying and howling about Federal money being given to anyone else. They're the Welfare Republicans, who have been convinced to vote against their own interests because the Moneypublicans know they're a valuable resource when it comes to elections. LBJ shepherded them into the GOP fold when he turned his back on the Blue Dogs, and Nixon cemented their loyalty with the Southern Strategy.
Beyond them, you have the CHRISTIAN (all caps) Republicans. These guys are scary, and they're an offshoot of Reagan's plan to bring Fallwell's flock and their ilk into the Republican fold. They're the hard-core fundamentalist Protestant (usually) ultra-conservatives, almost exclusively white and generally (but not always) quite comfortable, money wise. They believe that temporal concerns like the economy, the military, health care, infrastructure...you name it...should all take a back seat to school prayer, the Ten Commandments in public places, and JESUS in general. America's problems only appear geopolitical to them, but they know that everything from natural disasters and stock market crashes to terrorist attacks and hospital waiting lists are really caused by gay people and abortions, and know that America can be put right again by getting rid of these things. They're the Dominionist Party, operating under the umbrella of the GOP. Ted Cruz and Michelle Bachmann are good examples. They are fucking insane.
There's a lot of overlap between the last couple of groups I've mentioned and the Tea Party, the only sub-faction to have given themselves a separate name and a definite identity. They're just as gun crazy and Jesus loopy as the last few factions, but they're better at dressing it up as patriotism and constitutional fundamentalism. They're a safe haven for the loud and unsmart. Like many of the other factions, there's a distinctly racist bent to their outlook, but it's not too high on their list of priorities. They're the thin end of the anti-establishment wedge, and they're dangerous primarily because they smarten up well (style over substance) and they're a feeder group for both the CHRISTIAN Republicans and the last and lowest of their GOP stablemates; the Trumpists.
The Trumpists were just waiting in the wings until they had a figurehead to unite behind and they've done it by siphoning from the GUNS JESUS group, the CHRISTIAN group, the Tea Party and the like. They're RINO to the core, and they're flying under a flag of convenience when they call themselves Republicans. They've fully subscribed to Donald Trump's cult of personality. They're aggressively nationalistic, misogynist, fundamentally racist and sectarian, loud, uneducated, irrational, fact-blind (if not downright anti-fact) and delighted to have the backup and support of millions of like-minded howler monkeys now, after years of having to couch their language and views to make them more acceptable to the mainstream. They exalt ignorance. They draw on the worst dregs of the Redneck Republicans, the Tea Party, the CHRISTIAN Republicans and any other wide-eyed, spittle-flecked unaffiliated 'Republicans' out there. These are the lowest common denominators within the GOP. These are the people who will rant and rave about the US Constitution while never having read it. They're Breitbart in human form. They're The Brownshirts. They're The_Donald.
So...what is the modern Republican Party? Truthfully, there is no such thing. These people will all vote Republican because the abstract concept which has taken over from the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Taft and Eisenhower is the one in which they can see, if they squint, a reflection of themselves somewhere in the hall of mirrors the GOP has become since the 1980s.
EDIT: A lot of people have said (smart people...the best people...) that I overlooked the Libertarian wing. I haven't, I'm just not sure what to make of them. I answered one of those smart, best people with this (and there's a quick breakdown of my take on the Democrats somewhere in the maelstrom too...and that link ought to work now):
"I find them (the Libertarian Republicans) to be a bit of an anomaly. I was going to mention the Pauls, but there's already a Libertarian party. I view Libertarian Republicans as a bit of a curveball, and I haven't given them as much thought as I ought to, so I decided that not mentioning them at all would be better than half-assing a mention just for the sake of it.
I like Rand Paul. I like Ron Paul. I can't think of too many other examples. I wouldn't vote for them, but I think I'd enjoy talking to them, and that we'd find a lot of common ground."
I'd like to point out that not a huge amount of thought went into this post. It's not some sort of political thesis, and it makes a lot of generalizations. I didn't expect it to get as much attention as it has. Posters have accused me of copying it from somewhere, of spending a lot of time on it, of having some sort of agenda, of being biased, of being paid by Hillary Clinton, etc.
None of that is true. I type fast, I had a few minutes to spare where I felt like giving a detailed response to another poster. That was off the cuff,
I'm not a Democrat or a Republican (or even an American) and while I'll admit that there is a certain anti-Republican bias, it's not a 'Correct The Record' effort. At no point have I claimed it was a dispassionate, academic analysis of the GOP. It's a quick musing and it's more of a stream of consciousness than anything else. That said, to the dozens of people who've taken it as a personal insult: relax. It's just Reddit. And read it again, because some of the things you're accusing me of aren't actually there at all.
There is no smoke. There are no mirrors. I'm not a shill. I'm not a pundit. I'm not a Democrat. I'm just some guy who's bored with the work he's supposed to be doing and who's fascinated with the Great Big 2016 Shitshow.
There is no smoke. There are no mirrors. I'm not a shill. I'm not a pundit. I'm not a Democrat. I'm just some guy who's bored with the work he's supposed to be doing and who's fascinated with the Great Big 2016 Shitshow.
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