perfect example
Republicans are fine with scraps so long as their team wins something. when they don't, it doesn't matter or the other team is angry so it's ok
cuckoldry or a very passive coping mechanism?
Neither - An extremely optimistic take of the Republicans, as I see it, is they understand and accept that when they play the political game, sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. They pick and choose battles and cede ground and once the game has been played to the rules they agreed to, if they lost, they concede.
Compare that to the democrats, who resent the rules of the game entirely at this point, actively work to abuse it to the extent of their ability and then some while its benefitting them, and actively screech and try and burn it all down when someone else is benefitting from it. They don't give two fucks about the game and just want 100% of the power 100% of the time.
Republicans and RINO's have been struggling to adapt to this sudden scorch earthed side to politics, and didn't adjust fast enough. Instead they tried to continue to play the game of "well thats ok we lost this one but there's more in the future, let me shake your hand" - Thats why y'all got Trump, an outsider who stood up and realized that if the game was going to be played this way, he was willing to play it, and it went pretty damned well for him.
An comparison a friend made is that Democrats have pulled out a knife in a street fight, but Republicans still think this fight is gonna play out under official Olympic boxing rules.
I'm sure Gehenna has a better take on this than I do, but thats my optimistic view - They're behind the times. What's concerning to me though is that Democracy only really works under the rules the Republicans are trying to play on - Once you completely lose faith in the system, the power, and the fact that it will be handed around and restricted, the whole thing threatens to burst.