@hightor,
Quote:But I don't get the tie-in with the midterms or see this as a way for conservatives to save face (and seats in Congress). Most Republicans running for re-election will be shamelessly pro-Trump.
Sorry. My lack of clarity here. If I have this right, it is not the immediate term that is the goal of the rebranding strategy. I suspect that GOP strategists (and the players connected to the party) are well aware they are in big trouble in November, trouble they can do little about now. They are concerned about conservative ideology (or the public perception of it) being in serious jeopardy of being more broadly understood to be deeply corrupt. This is about 2020 and beyond. And, I think, they are concerned that obvious internecine conflict/confusion will do damage to the GOP base voters' need to have things be simple so that their certainties are not shaken (and then their voting enthusiasm dampened).
To underline my thesis, recall that the Koch crowd had a "tea party" (which I argue was simply used as a rebranding of the GOP post Bush) narrative designed years before it was implemented. These folks have been playing the long game for a long time. Or take the Federalist Society and how it was established precisely to build a Supreme Court (not to mention lower courts) of exactly the sort that we're likely to face if Kavanaugh is confirmed (every conservative justice on the court has long standing ties to the FS).
I hope that's clear.