Republicans: Hoist On Their Own Petard By Their Leader
By
Leonard Zwelling
If Mr. Trump had lost the election and all follow-up elections were complete, it might not matter that he spend so much time denigrating our electoral process. But there are still two key Senate run-offs in Georgia and the results in this newly designated swing state will determine who holds sway in the upper house of Congress. One Republican win gives the Senate majority to the GOP. Two Democratic wins and Chuck Schumer will be the new majority leader. Thus, the last thing that the Georgia GOP wants is someone undermining the integrity of the voting process in the state. This bad mouthing might lead to Republican voters staying home out of a belief that the election is rigged against them. Yet, that is exactly what Donald Trump is doing.
The article from The New York Times of December 1 illustrates the quandary that Georgia Republicans find themselves in. If Mr. Trump is convinced and convincing, that the general election was fraudulent and stolen from him, why should the Republicans in Georgia vote in the run-off elections? After all, it’s a scam.
Mr. Trump is going to war with Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both supporters of his, for not overturning the Georgia presidential result that Mr. Biden won by over 12,000 votes. It would be ironic if Mr. Trump’s final gift to the Democrats is the control of the US Senate simply because his constituents stayed home after believing him that the election was a fraud and so will be the run-off.
This behavior by Mr. Trump illustrates a far more important aspect of what the country has been through for the past four years. For Mr. Trump, it’s all about Mr. Trump. He cares nothing of the United States, its people, or even his own party. This actually makes sense as so much of the Trump agenda in foreign policy, trade and his appointments to the federal judiciary has been so unRepublican. I’ll give you Neil Gorsuch as a fine appointment to the Supreme Court, but both Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh could have used a bit more seasoning in lower courts before ascending to the Supreme Court. Mr. Trump’s trade agreements, or lack thereof in the Pacific, are disastrous and will be a major challenge for the Biden folks to fix. Although Mr. Trump did advance commerce in the Middle East between Israel and some Sunni Arab states, the Palestinian question is nowhere near being resolved as Jared Kushner promised us it would be. And if Trump has such a great relationship with Xi Jinping, why did Mr. Xi drop the coronavirus on us without so much as a warning while scrambling to protect the rest of China from the Wuhan virus?
I know my conservative colleagues all voted for Mr. Trump. I know you hated the idea of Biden-Harris, especially because you are convinced that Kamala Harris will ascend to the White House sooner rather than later. That is, of course, possible. But Donald Trump has been a dreadful stain on the American Presidency, not so much because of his policies, but because of his personality and behavior. He’s shameful and has no shame. Once again, a one-term president may leave not a footprint on the sands of history. The only one who really did was George H. W. Bush.
I am convinced that we have heard the last of Mr. Trump and it will be the Republican Party that seals this part of the deal. They want no more of him than does anyone else.
In 2016 he delivered the White House to the GOP. He managed to coerce otherwise straight thinking Republican Senators to go along with his nonsense. But come January 20, 2021 it’s a new game, with new players and a whole new team. Trump will be history. His behavior now could sink the GOP chances in Georgia on January 5. Then Republicans, especially Mitch McConnell, will never be able to forgive him.
If you conservatives out there think that Donald Trump embodies your values, think again. Many, many Republicans (the Lincoln Project) backed Biden because Trump was such an embarrassment. Good for them. My guess is that Biden will be a one-term president and we will have two wide-open primaries in 2024. That would be good for the country and for both parties. If Biden simply gets Trump out of the White House and lets sanity back in, he’s served his country well. He needs to do so little to become the second worthy one-term President.
4 thoughts on “Republicans”
I am a Lincoln Project Republican.
One option for us and disenfranchised Democrats and conservative Independents is to coalesce into a third party, the Lincoln Party. Those Republican legislators who now unwillingly support Trumpism could move on and squeeze Trumpsters into a meaningless minority.
LOve it!
That was not one of your better blogs.
Doubted you would like it, but it is reality, something with which the Republicans seem to me in denial.