Some accounts have already started. This week, Erick Erickson, Trump’s influential conservative and critical radio host, called for the resignation of Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer, a staunch supporter of the president who also publicized allegations of electoral fraud after Trump’s defeat. Mr. Erickson argued that this strategy, which may have depressed the desire of Republicans to appear in the second round, was contrary to the interests of Republicans. (Mr. Shafer could not be reached for comment.)
The invasion of the United States Capitol may also continue to have political repercussions in Georgia. On Friday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a robotic call telling Trump supporters to march on Capitol Hill and “fight to protect the integrity of our elections” was launched by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, an arm of the Prosecutors General Republican Association. This group is chaired by Chris Carr, Georgia’s attorney general.
Katie Byrd, a spokeswoman for Carr, said on Friday that Carr “was unaware” of the decision to launch the robocall and noted that she had publicly condemned “the violence and destruction we saw at the US Capitol”.
And despite some of the positive signs, Republicans are also assessing how the last days of the Trump era have weakened them and are brooding over the future of their party’s collective identity. Trey Allen, a Republican commissioner in Columbia County, near Augusta, said the party would have to go beyond being defined by a single personality and focus on classic conservative themes that are still popular with many Georgia voters.
“We hope to strengthen our platform,” said Allen, who calls himself a Republican Reagan who voted for Trump twice, “and we will focus on the things that make conservatives who they are: strong economy, strong military, less government, more freedoms. “
Duncan said Republicans need to prioritize politics over personality. He envisioned what he described as “GOP 2.0”, a version of the party that embraced traditional conservative ideals while being more empathetic and more gentle in tone, to win back voters who rejected Trump’s scathing style.
“If we don’t learn from our mistakes,” he said, “we will continue to lose from our mistakes. This is the perfect time to start GOP 2.0 and realize that we can never let a person be more important than a party. “