Grand Old Party

After the collapse of the Republican Party, the Grand Old Party (GOP) arrived to pick up the pieces. Like the Republican Party before it, it contained many competing ideologies, but in general, it was on the center-right on both the economic and social axes of the political spectrum. Throughout its existence, it struggled to move past the baggage from their association with Nixon. The Grand Old Party had to manage the disparity between their loyalty to the ideals of the Republicans, and their desire to bring the conservative movement into the future.
==Collapse of the GOP==
After the 1984 Presidental Election that resulted in the GOP losing to the Presidency to Kevin O'Leary, the United States House flipped in control of the Right Bloc and the Senate remained in Democratic control. The GOP and its leadership made deals behind closed doors with the Democratic Party and Nancy Pelosi. Originally, the Right Bloc was planning on backing Rep. Randy Economy for House Speaker. However, on the day of the Speakership Vote, 9 members of the GOP, including their House Leader, Teddy Heath, surprisingly voted "Present", giving the speakership back to the Democratic party. Then in the senate, for the vote on President Pro Tempore, the Democrats joined the GOP in electing a GOP candidate.
This caused mass controversy towards both parties with some members of the GOP and Democratic Party openly calling out the actions of these house and senate members. The media, as well as the American people, saw this as nothing more than a corrupt deal to stay in power. Democrats' polling dropped to around 38%, while the GOP's dropped down to 3%. 
GOP funding completely dried up, members were being called to resignm and Teddy Heath, who was a part of organizing the corrupt deals, had announced his intentions to retire at the end of that congress. Teddy Heath eventually found a job at his local Dairy Queen a few weeks after his resignation. Membership in the GOP fell massively. However, the final nail in the coffin which triggered the complete collapse, came after their 1984 Presidental Nominee Robert Arrington had announced he was leaving the party because of a "lack of ideological direction and the inability of the party to establish a coherent platform". After only 7 years of existing, the Grand Old Party had officially dissolved.
===Aftermath===
After the GOP officially dissolved, most elected members switched over to either the Christian Democratic Union or the Liberty Coalition. After 10 months of a Democratic speaker, a vote to vacate the chair finally passed and the Right Bloc officially elected Rep. Randy Economy as Speaker. Before they collapsed, the GOP had 15 House Seats, 4 Senate Seats and 6 Governorships. Some talks have come up to try to bring back the party, but it seems it will never return. The final nail in the coffin solidifying this fact was when the United Conservative Party was formed, defeating the purpose of bringing back the GOP. 
Category:Political Parties