Even for the most fanatical Republican the Trump presidency has shredded the traditional values of the GOP. Trump’s antics including two impeachment trials, obstruction of justice (ignoring subpoenas and denying access to documents), pardoning admitted, convicted and incarcerated felons, suggesting a military coup on January 6th and a whole host of other ridiculous actions (bleach to kill COVID, withholding foreign aid from Ukraine, muzzling medical experts during a world-wide pandemic, etc.). The result: mid-term elections for GOP candidates have three distinct paths: (1) no mention of Trump, (2) endorsement by Trump, (3) vague allusion to Trumpian policies. When we add the admission that the GOP has no formal statement or platform going forward, voters must be confused. To be clear, we are NOT big fans of Joe Biden. But we think that he has done much to right the previous four years. He shares some credit with Trump on vaccine development but Trump and his followers did not fully endorse vaccinations when that push would have saved many lives. Biden inherited an immigration mess with a partially built Mexican wall, inadequate immigration facilities and no funding to fix it. Biden also ran headlong into other issues like abortion, a wrecked economy, unemployment growth, racial divides, gay rights activists, etc. And none of this received any support from the GOP members of Congress. It is our view that changing election laws unnecessarily, opposing Roe v. Wade, perceived anti-gay legislation, and other actions in the past 18 months will cost the GOP votes. Remember the 2020 election? The Dems won the national election by over 8 million votes and the GOP has offended the majority of voters even further since that loss. The GOP needs to re-brand itself, pick new leadership, and work toward supporting a positive agenda for change. And it all starts with a reality check—what they’re doing today won’t sell.
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