Adam Serwer: “Should Joe Biden defeat Trump in November, he will likely face the challenge of helping the nation recover from another economic catastrophe against similarly implacable GOP opposition. The Republican Party will rediscover its concern for debt once there is no longer a Republican in the White House. The more ideologically diverse Democratic caucus will be vulnerable to splintering and half measures.”

“The crucial obstacle to necessary intervention under such circumstances will not be traditional divides over the role of the state or the size of government. It will be, as it has been for more than a decade, the Republican belief that no one else should be allowed to wield power.”

Stuart Stevens: “Don’t just blame President Trump. Blame me — and all the other Republicans who aided and abetted and, yes, benefited from protecting a political party that has become dangerous to America. Some of us knew better.”

“But we built this moment. And then we looked the other way.”

“Many of us heard a warning sound we chose to ignore, like that rattle in your car you hear but figure will go away. Now we’re broken down, with plenty of time to think about what should have been done.”

The Republican National Committee announced chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has self-quarantined and is awaiting the results of a coronavirus test after exhibiting a fever and flu-like symptoms.

Former DNC Chair Donna Brazile told Fox News that RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel can “go to hell” over her allegation that the Democratic primaries will be “rigged” against Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Said Brazile: “For people to use Russian talking points to sow division among Americans is stupid. So Ronna, go to hell! This is not about … go to Hell! I’m tired of it!”

“The country’s new point man on coronavirus response, Vice President Mike Pence, is expected to travel to Florida on Friday — but not on a public health mission,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.

“Instead, Pence is headed to the moneyed barrier island town of Longboat Key, where he’ll be the main attraction for Congressional Republicans in one of their biggest fundraisers of the year.”

ProPublica: “Last year, Richard Walters earned a salary of $207,558, but the party paid him an additional $135,000 through a shell company he established in December 2018 called Red Wave Strategies. Federal Election Commission reports described the RNC’s payments to Red Wave as ‘political strategy services,’ as if the money had flowed to an independent contractor and not Walters himself. Red Wave does not have other employees and has no clients other than the RNC.”

“Amid the flows of cash to the GOP, a select group of political operatives has leveraged Trump campaign ties for lucrative consulting work… A half-dozen former RNC employees and Republican operatives said that the various deals, typically veiled behind opaque limited liability corporations, create an unseemly overall impression that is bad for morale and could eventually harm the party’s credibility with donors.”

The same Louisiana Republican Party that 30 years ago refused to censure former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke decided last Saturday to censure Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) for his vote to convict President Trump on abuse of power impeachment charges, the Washington Examiner reports.

Politico: “Donation pages for WinRed — the GOP’s online fundraising tool — that included the word ‘impeach’ or ‘impeachment’ raised 300 percent more than pages that did not.”

Wall Street Journal: “Perhaps most important, the impeachment drama has further shifted ground within the Republican party. Contrary to some expectations, impeachment drove Republican leaders even further into the embrace of a president they once viewed skeptically. By uniting so decisively behind Mr. Trump, Republicans find their fortunes locked with his, for better or as Democrats claim for the worse, in this year’s election season.”

“For his part, Mr. Trump found himself dependent on a Republican establishment he once scorned, and ultimately became proud of its solid backing. If there was doubt before that the Republican party has become Mr. Trump’s party, it has largely evaporated during the impeachment fight.”

Sen. Mitt Romney will not be invited to this year’s CPAC, the conservative conference’s host chair announced Friday in the aftermath of senators voting not to hear additional witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, Politico reports.

John Harwood: “Republican hopes of blocking former national security adviser John Bolton’s impeachment testimony highlight the Trump-era GOP’s defining characteristic: its refusal to defy the President under almost any circumstances.”

“President Trump’s vituperative attacks, regularly trained on critics through his vast social media following, make every Republican politician wary of crossing him. But that represents the lesser factor in the party’s fealty.”

“More significantly, decades of American political realignment have tightened the bonds holding Republicans together in any high-stakes fight with Democrats. The ongoing diversification of American society further unites an overwhelmingly white GOP around a shared fear of impending doom.”