The Republican radical right is fighting for full control of the GOP

Context

Wikipedia: In United States politics, the radical right is a political preference that leans towards extreme conservatism, white supremacism, and other right-wing to far-right ideologies in a hierarchical structure paired with conspiratorial rhetoric alongside traditionalist and reactionary aspirations. The term was first used by social scientists in the 1950s regarding small groups such as the John Birch Society in the United States, and since then it has been applied to similar groups worldwide. The term “radical” was applied to the groups because they sought to make fundamental (hence “radical”) changes within institutions and remove persons and institutions that threatened their values or economic interests from political life.

Wikipedia: Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are politics further on the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being authoritarian, ultranationalist, and having nativist ideologies and tendencies. Historically used to describe the experiences of fascism and Nazism, far-right politics now include neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, the Third Position, the alt-right, racial supremacism, and other ideologies or organizations that feature aspects of ultranationalist, chauvinist, xenophobic, theocratic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or reactionary views. Far-right politics have led to oppression, political violence, forced assimilation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against groups of people based on their supposed inferiority or their perceived threat to the native ethnic group, nation, state, national religion, dominant culture, or conservative social institutions.

Wikipedia: The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, or far-right politics. .... The society rose quickly in membership and influence, and was controversial for its promotion of conspiracy theories. In the 1960s the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review pushed for the JBS to be exiled to the fringes of the American right. More recently Jeet Heer has argued in The New Republic that while the organization's influence peaked in the 1970s, “Bircherism” and its legacy of conspiracy theories have become the dominant strain in the conservative movement.

The radical right rising

The new York Times writes:

A Fracture in Idaho’s G.O.P. as the Far Right Seeks Control

Ahead of a primary vote, traditional Republicans are raising alarm about the future of the party, warning about the growing strength of militia members, racists and the John Birch Society.

At a school gymnasium in northern Idaho, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin regaled a crowd with stories of her feuds with the current governor, a fellow Republican, including the time when he briefly left the state and she issued a mutinous but short-lived ban on coronavirus mask mandates.

Gov. Brad Little had worked in recent years to slash taxes and ban abortion, but for Ms. McGeachin and the hundreds gathered at a candidates’ forum sponsored by the John Birch Society in late March, the governor was at cross purposes with their view of just how conservative Idaho could and should be.

They clapped as one candidate advocated “machine guns for everyone” and another called for the state to take control of federal lands. A militia activist, who was once prosecuted for his role in an infamous 2014 standoff with federal agents in Nevada, promised to be a true representative of the people. A local pastor began the meeting with an invocation, asking for God to bless the American Redoubt — a movement to create a refuge anchored in northern Idaho for conservative Christians who are ready to abandon the rest of the country.

“We’re losing our state,” said Ms. McGeachin, who is now seeking to take over the governor’s job permanently. “We’re losing our freedoms.”

The bitter intraparty contest between Ms. McGeachin and Mr. Little, set to be settled in the state’s primary election on Tuesday, reflects the intensifying split that is pitting Idaho’s conventional pro-gun, anti-abortion, tax-cut conservatives against a growing group of far-right radicals who are agitating to seize control of what is already one of the most conservative corners of the Republican Party in the country.

Fearing the growth of the party’s extremist wing, some Republicans are waging a “Take Back Idaho” campaign. In northern Idaho’s Kootenai County, the disputes have led to a formal rift, with two Republican Party factions separately battling to convince voters that they represent the true nature of the party.

Similar debates are playing out across the country, as more moderate Republicans confront challenges from an increasingly powerful segment energized by the continuing influence of former President Donald J. Trump. In Idaho, where Mr. Trump won 64 percent of the vote in 2020, carrying 41 of the state’s 44 counties, many longtime Republicans fear the party’s name, identity and deep conservative values are being commandeered by the state’s fringe elements. 

One of the growing powers in the region is the John Birch Society, which dominated the far right in the 1960s and 1970s by opposing the civil rights movement and equal rights for women while embracing conspiratorial notions about communist infiltration of the federal government. The group was purged from the conservative movement decades ago but has found a renewed foothold in places like the Idaho panhandle.

How should a person takes this? Some people will dismiss this as an unimportant intraparty dispute where rationality will prevail, the JBS will be pushed back, and whatever it is we are witnessing in the Republican Party will subside. Some will be confused and not know what to think. Others won't care very much because they are busy, not interested, etc. 

How can one do a neutral and rational analysis? Look at what appear to be most of the major factors. 

• T**** and the continuing radicalizing influence he exerts on the GOP is important. Most of the rank and file still believe the 2020 election was stolen and that Democrats are lying, corrupt socialist tyrants. Rank and file loyalty to T**** is blind and at the level of a personality cult, not just a political party or even tribe.
• GOP elites do not have the courage to openly oppose T**** or push back on his lies and neo-fascist politics and policies. Either openly or by their silence, GOP politicians constitute a major source of support for T**** and his power.
• The radical right’s propaganda Leviathan, e.g., Faux News, is increasingly neo-fascist, aggressive and detached from reality and sound reasoning. That is a powerful source of influence on the rank and file and apparently many independents. The power of dark free speech is greater than that of honest speech. This is an important factor.
• The Democrats are divided and incapable of effective messaging via already weak honest speech. Poor messaging is not generating enthusiasm or winning converts among voters.
• The business community has quietly returned to supporting the GOP after a brief moment of social conscience the 1/6 coup attempt shocked it into. Despite public relations propaganda to the contrary, laissez-faire capitalism is not on the side of democracy or the public interest or common good. It is on it’s own side. 
• Christian nationalism has risen in influence along with radical right political and social ideology and laissez-faire capitalism in the GOP. Those forces are control the party, not the traditional conservatives that are starting to see the threat in their own party. It too is anti-democratic and neo-fascist with tendency toward bigotry at best and racism at worst. 
• And, exactly what do those awakening traditional conservative Republicans actually stand for? Nearly all are some combination of maybe softer laissez-faire capitalist, maybe softer Christian nationalist and maybe softer hard core radical right. Maybe most of those people are something short of radical right or far right. Something fairly close, not something far away. Decades of RINO hunts have ideologically cleansed the GOP quite a lot. For most traditional conservatives, the pull of radical right ideology and politics is probably almost as appealing as the appeal of whatever traditional conservatism is. In other words, those troubled conservatives arguably do not look all that comforting with regard to defense of democracy, the rule of law, civil liberties, the public interest, or the truth. 

At this point, the best indicator of how the close to radical traditionalists against the hard core radical right power fight will play out is unclear. The results of the 2022 general elections ought to shed significant light on which path the GOP will take.

Question: The NYT article calls the traditional conservatives “moderate Republicans” but does that ring true in view of how far to the right that decades of radical right propaganda, RINO hunts and T****’s anti-democratic influences have had the GOP?