-Abraham Lincoln had a sense of humor
that was way ahead of his time.
Just listen to this joke he used to tell.
Two drunk men in large overcoats are fighting at a bar.
They're so clumsy that they manage
to fight themselves into each other's coats.
-Huh? -So it goes, Lincoln said,
with America's political parties.
Okay, so maybe the joke didn't age well, but the sentiment did.
Historically, U. S.
political parties have had a tendency
to change their coats periodically.
If you're having trouble recognizing the Republican Party
these days, that's because
it's in the middle of one of these transformations.
Under President Trump,
conservatives are scrapping pillars of the Grand Old Party,
embracing policies historically backed
by pro-labor-type liberals.
Think Trump's promises to rip up trade deals, his protectionism.
He's also ramped up anti-immigrant sentiments
and stoked racial tensions.
The party hasn't done a complete 180.
Its stances on abortion, gun rights,
and revamping the welfare state haven't change,
but overall, the Republican Party is undeniably different.
How'd it happen?
-To understand Trump, you have to look at the era
of Republican Party politics before him.
-That's Charles Kesler, a political science professor
at Claremont McKenna College who supports Trump.
He's talking about the post-Reagan era.
To him, it's defined by endless foreign wars,
trade deals that hurt American workers,
and a global financial meltdown.
-The policies of that era were, I think, not successful
and are increasingly seen by Republican voters
as having been a failure.
And it's very important to understand
that Trump came on the scene as the first,
you might say, post-Bush-era Republican contender.
It was Trump who really called that consensus into question.
-This isn't the first time in modern American history
that a party has changed its coats.
Enter Barry Goldwater.
After a contentious primary in 1964,
Goldwater became the Republican presidential nominee.
He ran on a platform that frightened
progressive Republicans.
He opposed the newly passed Civil Rights Act
and promoted hawkish foreign policy.
Meanwhile, Southern Democrats who opposed civil rights
for people of color began the swing to the Republican Party,
which culminated in the election of Richard Nixon.
Over time, the party crystallized
into the Reagan Revolution.
That's the establishment conservatism
that powered the Bush era.
It's not surprising for political parties to be in flux.
What is surprising -- once a party starts to change its coat,
it's essentially unable to slip back.
Just consider how many top Republicans
are leaving in Congress.
In the House alone, at least 40 out of 236
Republicans are leaving office,
many who lead influential committees.
And in their place, a new class of Republicans
loyal to the Trump brand.
So, what do those conservatives who feel left out of the party
or resent the president's rhetoric about immigrants
and minorities do?
-There's a point at which you can no longer say,
"My party or the highway."
I had to get off the train. -That's Jennifer Rubin,
a columnist here at "The Post."
She's one of the many conservatives
who don't recognize their own party.
So, what happens to these politically
homeless conservatives?
-I think that's all gonna get worked out in the primaries
and in the election of 2020.
Republicans, ex-Republicans will look around and say,
"Who represents me?"
And if it's a Democrat, they'll vote Democrat.
If there is an independent candidacy,
from a John Kasich or from a Jeff Flake
or from others, they'll choose them.
I think what they're not gonna do
is ever vote for Donald Trump.
-What we do know is that the majority
of self-identified Republicans are now on the Trump train.
More than 80% of them support the president,
and as the primaries have shown,
being a Trump loyalist has paid off,
so this is the Republican Party's new coat.
It's not changing anytime soon.