STOP BEING SURPRISED AT ELISE STEFANIK'S EMBRACE OF THE FAR RIGHT

Elise Stefanik, a GOP congresswoman from upstate New York, used to have a reputation as an aisle-crosser -- on her House website, you can still find a press release announcing the fact that she was named one of the most bipartisan members of Congress in 2017.

But at last week's impeachment hearings, she pulled a cheap stunt: Ranking Republican Devin Nunes tried to yield some of his questioning time to her during a phase of the hearing when, according to rules, Nunes and chairman Adam Schiff could yield time only to committee lawyers. Her stunt has made her a GOP star (though it also led to a fundraising boost for Tedra Cobb, the Democrat who hopes to defeat her in 2020).

Now I see that Stefanik has been photographed with Laura Loomer, an anti-Muslim bigot and conspiracy theorist who's running for Congress in Florida.

Some think this is a sign of long-term trouble for the Republican Party:

If I were a Republican this (and Haley's trajectory) would worry me more than the Trump stuff. After all, Trump, Giuliani, etc are old and will be off the stage soon. The fact that young, ambitious politicians who could credibly do outreach are going full Trump is a bad sign https://t.co/ZmdWeGaqaU

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) November 18, 2019

But why would that be? In 2016, Donald Trump proved that conspiratorialism, hatemongering, and white nationalism can lead to victory at the polls. His presidency has proved that these things are compatible with tax cuts for the rich, deregulation of large corporations, total resistance to gun control, opposition to abortion and gay rights, and the seating of many Federalist Society judges. That's all establishment Republicans care about.

There's been a slight downtick in suburban support for Republicans, but GOP gubernatorial candidates in Kentucky and Louisiana didn't lose by that much. The increased crazification of the GOP hasn't made the party uncompetitive at all.

And if Stefanik's embrace of Trumpism and the racist fringe ever does become a liability, I'm sure she can just shake the Etch-a-Sketch and declare herself an establishmentarian again whenever it suits her; she'll be fully embraced by the political mainstream. Steve Scalise once addressed an organization run by David Duke; that didn't prevent him from becoming House minority whip. Kevin McCarthy met with a group of birthers during Barack Obama's presidency; he's since become the Republican leader in the House.

Stefanik can pull back from the edge whenever she chooses, and she'll get a do-over. Or she can stay on the fringe and still count on the votes of Republican voters who claim to reject fringe thinking. And if she loses her reelection bid in 2020, I'm sure she can always get a job at Fox News.