To think about the Tea Party, maybe I think we thought that the Republican Party was going

to be defined by the Tea Party.

Oh, Tea Party.

Well, that sounds pretty quaint looking back.

Things change, I guess, is the point, and so I do think there are traditionalists who

sense that there's at least a possibility that the party reverts.

This is Nerdcast.

I'm Scott Blande.

This week might offer the clearest window into the future of what exactly the Republican

Party could look like in 2024.

The question is, is this an inflection point or just a random mile marker along the road?

And that's a remarkable statement on where we are in politics, I think, that the president's

historic second impeachment trial is, as you said, just a waypoint.

I think that's true.

I think that there are important things that we will see on the periphery of the trial.

Our own David Siders is here to predict the future, or at least help us see through

that window a little bit.

I have a hard time believing that by the time the next primary role is around every

discreet statement that a senator makes during the impeachment trial is going to be litigated

again.

But I do think that it is forming for voters' minds a more comprehensive picture of how

all of these senators are dealing with the aftermath of Trump.

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