I see a fractured GOP that isn’t likely to heal anytime soon.
While I call for candidates to disavow Trump’s behavior and focus only on the issues, to do so would be political suicide. Ardent Trump supporters, which still represent a sizeable piece of the GOP base will most certainly not support that candidate.
On the flip side, those candidates that embrace Trump no matter what and who are looking to rehash the 2020 election are turning off issue-based voters such as myself. Those issues-based voters also makeup a sizeable chunk of the GOP base.
Without both camps, there is no chance the GOP will do well in 2024. IMHO
I’m not sure how we move forward. Even if Trump were to suddenly turn over a new leaf, much of the GOP base would be thrilled, but his ardent supporters would have none of it.
Kind of a damned if you do or damned if you don’t situation.
Politics much like the nfl is a game of copycats. You take what’s working and you apply it.
So you take Florida, you take Zeldin turning blue Long Island districts red, and try and see what works on say a special election and go from there
There is some interesting talk about the guy from Virginia running for president. May be take his campaign as well. CRT, parental choice! Boogie boogie
I only wish it was that simple. What I think we are seeing is Trump supporters dominating GOP primaries with like-minded candidates that have little to no chance of winning a general election.
I don’t want Trump to run let alone win but it’s pretty obvious looking at turnout and exit polls the roe vs wade decision doomed the GOP in the midterms. Biden didn’t drive out record young people and women the Supreme Courts decision on abortion did. They need to figure out how to deal with that stink bomb or it doesn’t matter who is the leader.
If the GOP wants to move forward, they should take a look at GA as a path to that end. In GA, most of the Trump - pushed candidates were rejected during the primary. In those races, the GOP actually did pretty well. I even voted for some of those candidates - particularly Brad Raffensperger who held firm in the face of strong attacks from those who were pushing conspiracy theories in 2020.
The only GOP candidate in higher offices who ended up in a runoff is Herschel Walker, who was hand picked by Trump. At this point, we don’t know how that race will turn out.
So, look to that and ask why the GOP was so successful in GA. The answer to that will give the GOP an idea of a path to victory in 2024.
I listened to a few of the national and state Democrat winners today. They all said how they ran on what was being done with the infrastructure bill, chips bill and the ongoing plan for the economy. And in every case their Republican competitor did not have any forward looking plan. Only complaints.
And I have heard some criticism regarding the quality of some candidates.
And from what I have seen, the only candidates who were election deniers and won were in very red districts/states. IMHO Republicans have allowed one man’s ego to take over a large portion of the party.
And I would also suggest that any Republican running in a swing area abandon any notion of a abortion ban.
As I stated earlier, for all practical purposes, I had dropped out. However, despite dropping out, I have seen some of what you describe, but I don’t believe it is responsible for failure of the red wave to materialize.
I don’t believe for one second that DEMs are responsible for what is ailing the GOP. What’s ironic is that I strongly believe we are seeing some of what doomed Hillary back in 2016. Bernie followers failed to show up in the numbers needed to push Hillary over the top. I believe we are seeing a similar division with Trump followers. The GOP is seriously divided. IMHO
