Before the meat scare, they warned that pandemic mask regulations posed a threat to the American way of life. Before that, the menace was embodied by a publisher’s decision to take certain Dr. Seuss books off the market. And before that, a dispute over the gender of Mr. Potato Head. None of those controversies appeared to dent Biden’s standing, probably because they just didn’t seem as important to most people as the president’s priorities: ending the pandemic and reviving the economy. But the GOP’s internal divisions — between pro-Trump militants, an anti-Trump minority and a fence-straddling, can’t-we-all-get-along middle faction — have gotten in the way of Republicans' ability to articulate a coherent set of policy goals, and that's left many party members reliant on the Trumpian strategy of ridiculing the opposition. “We need to create a sense that the party is ready to govern,” a Republican strategist told me. “We haven’t gotten there yet.”