General Douglas McArthur said it best: “There is no substitute for victory.” This quote is displayed at Yankee Stadium, near the team’s dugout entrance. You have to win to get what you want in DC – that’s not a revolutionary point. It’s cliché, but the 2008 and 2012 elections showed that the Republican Party doesn’t mind losing with dignity. There was no base, primarily because Barack Obama was waging war to, among other things, raise health care premiums and put rural communities out of work through his EPA regulations.
The Republican base welcomed hordes of white, working-class voters without college degrees. They were a bit more protectionist about free trade, preoccupied with American cultural issues, and wanted something done about immigration. Donald Trump saw what the elite class of DC Republicans failed to see, cornered the market on these issues, catapulted himself to the top in 2016, and ultimately won the presidency. After Mitt Romney, the strategy of the Republican Party’s presidential candidate was to be as similar as possible to Ronald Reagan. This was a question during the 2008 primary debates. the establishment was blind to the idea that public opinion could change; therefore, primary voters’ priorities may change. After years of broken promises, the livid GOP voter was energized and ready to accept someone who wasn’t part of the country club to sell another bunch of false promises. I feel like if the Republican Party had kept their promise to repeal Obamacare, everything would have been fine it could have been different. This massive GOP initiative was a complete failure after almost a decade of being a turning point.
The “principles first” crowd doesn’t understand that we’ve tried their way in many election cycles. They failed to win the presidency. Sure, like in sports, it’s great to make a deep run in the playoffs, but after you screwed up in the championship game, it’s time to blow up the front office. Unless you’re Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, who maintains divine control over this team even though his team has been unable to reach the NFC Championship Game for 25 years, let alone another Super Bowl appearance.
Talks about principles are also puzzling because Trump’s neo-populist agenda overlaps with much of the conventional policy elements of the Reagan era. We mentioned this earlier when the Never Trump and MAGA wings were at each other’s throats. Character issues are overrated. This is now the main focus of the media. For our part, Trump won despite his alleged extramarital activities. Among Democrats, Bill Clinton has a history of sexual assault allegations. He was elected and re-elected twice. If he could run for a third time, you can bet that a good number of members of the Democratic Party would support him, ending this stupid debate about the nature of the election. If there is no murder and mayhem, voters don’t care. The elite fails to understand that everyone sees them as fraudsters, snake oil salesmen, and a class that will not only deceive them, but will ultimately disappoint them in the future. I like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis – I have no doubt that they will ultimately fail. All politicians do this – it’s the only profession where people expect you to be total garbage.
Fortunately, the rules crowd is few and far between, and we’ve removed quite a few of them. Five of the 10 Republicans in the House supporting impeachment have left due to retirement or primary challenges. Washington Reps. Jamie Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse can survive; they are still counting votes there. Representative Peter Meijer of Michigan did not survive its main challenge (via CNBC):
Trump also pushed to remove 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him after the riot, and most of the GOP followed suit. Four of these Republican impeachment supporters – Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York and Fred Upton of Michigan – will retire at the end of their current terms.
Another, Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., lost his primary race in June. California’s David Valadao survived his primary challenge.
However, Republican Peter Meijer of Michigan lost the primary on Tuesday after overcoming attacks from both Trump and Democrats who apparently reinforced his far-right opponent John Gibbs.
Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) career is over; it’s just that no one has told her about it yet. Or maybe some people are like that and, like Joe Biden, they wallow in fantasy land when things don’t go their way. Any victories this team can achieve will be pyrrhic. Those who survive will come face to face with voters who see them as traitors for supporting Democrats’ kangaroo court attempts to impeach and remove Trump. None of their bills will see the airy of day. Why bother serving at all? What’s the point of your calling to serve if all you do is sit around complaining about Trump and hanging out with Democrats? Liz should have known when she was ousted from leadership of the House Republican Party that to declare war on Trump was to self-immolate one’s career. The two sides have a lot of political agreement, but the obsession with being right and trying to lecture us about Trump is simply fruitless. We all knew what we were getting into with Trump; for the most part, we still like him. We also like Trump-like candidates like Ron DeSantis. And like most in this wing of the GOP, they have no energy to fight.
What was the point of praising your self-proclaimed superior moral compass when all roads led to leaving the arena? You are all spineless fools who would rather have therapy sessions with the many leftist authors who attack networks like CNN and MSNBC. We’re done with you. I’m asking you to resign or retire, but if you want to fight like Liz Cheney, know that you will go down in flames.
