The Republican Party Still Sucks
In May 2021 my good friend, Tal Bachman, wrote a blistering column for American Greatness slamming the Republican Party.
The piece was well received within conservative circles. It landed Tal in the “War Room” with the Democrat nemesis and former Donald Trump Chief of Staff, Steve Bannon.
The reprimand was well deserved. The GOP had earned the tongue lashing. The Republican Party has been weak and anemic for decades. Tal rightly surmised that the party commenced sucking with the presidency of George H. W. Bush and continued sucking even through the Donald Trump presidency from 2016-2020. It sucks even more today.
It is no secret that Trump was (and still is) an outsider to the GOP Washington, D.C. elites. Long term members of the Uniparty Swamp couldn’t persuade Trump into deep state membership. They couldn’t lure him over to bow down to the lobbyists and globalist elites.
The bottom line is that the Republican Party couldn’t buy Donald Trump.
So they just kept sucking. Ultimately, they became a major factor in preparing the White House halls to be roamed by a former basement-dwelling mannequin. We have them to thank for the decrepit old man shuffling around in socks that are attached to his slippers, shaking hands with air, calling on deceased members of Congress, and aimlessly wandering around on the world stage.
One would think that it would be easy not to suck given the mishaps of the current disastrous administration. But the Republican Party can’t seem to help itself. It just keeps sucking.
I offer up three simple examples of the ways the Republican Party still sucks: complacency, poor leadership, and messaging.
Problem No. 1: Complacency
Comfort and complacency have been major problems for the Republican Party. They fall into a Rip Van Winkle sleeping stupor regardless of which party holds the White House.
The GOP plays the political casino game. They know that the midterm elections almost always favor the out of power party. It is simply an ironclad rule that everyone learns in POLI-SCI 101. Today this is a simple do-nothing strategy because a political Democratic swamp creature occupies the Oval Office.
A November Red Wave is coming and the current Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will simply lay his chips on the pass line and let it ride.
This is too easy for McConnell, whom former President Donald Trump rightly labeled a do-nothing “broken-down crow.” You’re not likely to catch McConnell at Mar-a-Lago chatting it up and having beers (or Diet Cokes) with the former president.
Conversely in 2018, when the White House was held by Trump (a Republican), McConnell, then Senate Majority Leader, placed a much smaller bet on the same pass line during those midterm elections.
A November Blue Wave came, as predicted.
Regardless of whether the GOP holds the White House during a midterm election, their approach is predictably feeble. Every single time.
No fight, strategy, or plan. Nothing.
Problem No. 2: Poor Leadership
Sutured closely together with complacency, poor leadership is a significant reason why the Republican Party sucks.
Other than a few shining stars in the party, the run-of-the-mill GOP lifers act more like Al Bundy than Andy Griffith.
Over the last several decades, the so-called Conservative party has had very few real fighters with superb counter-punching ability. Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and more recently Donald Trump come to mind. I can’t leave out the current governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. He may throw the best return hook of any current Republican leader. But he’s not in Washington, D.C. . . . yet.
McConnell is the current Senate Minority Leader. He has a 34 percent approval rating. And that’s just among those from his own party. He actually polls better with Independents at 35 percent. Jock itch currently polls better than McConnell.
Why is McConnell so bad?
It is well known within the party that he will double cross his fellow members in back room parlor deals with Democrats. He does not speak with convincing authority. In fact, listening to McConnell read his scripts on the Senate floor is like watching the town drunk vomit on himself over and over again. He’s no better with interviews in front of the camera.
The bottom line is that McConnell frequently abandons conservative legislation to please his pals on the other side of the swamp. He is weak and often taps out before the bell rings.
Problem No. 3: Messaging
Messaging from the Republican Party has always been an issue. The most prolific message they have is to be antagonistic to whatever the Democrats put forth.
It is all too common for Republican lawmakers to skirt around questions when pressed on policy. For instance, the current ginormous political elephant in the room is inflation. So what’s the plan to decrease inflation? The typical cookie cutter GOP response is to “cut taxes.”
Sorry, but “cutting taxes” isn’t going to do it.
Aside from Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), no other Republican lawmaker has put forth any real tangible plan to tackle inflation. Many, including McConnell, have rejected Scott’s plan outright because there are tax increases built into that attempt to make up the difference. I’ll give kudos to Scott for at least putting something forward other than a useless talking point. It may not be the best plan, but at least it is a plan.
House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), recently unveiled a four-part “Commitment to America.” It’s essentially the intentions of the House if control flips back to the GOP as predicted.
This is certainly better than what the GOP has done in the past. But honestly, it is still just talking points with few real specifics as to how they plan to achieve their goals.
McCarthy is a smooth talker with a political gift of gab. However, he gives the impression that he lacks the skills of policy wonk or political mastermind to deliver much outside of preformatted talking points. As we say in Kentucky, “He’s dumber than a bag of hammers.”
Not only do they lack messaging on policy, they reveal almost zero zeal to stand up against the Left’s fantasyland of transgenderism and their manufactured climate boogeyman.
What To Do?
We need revitalization within the Republican Party. It’s easy to say and almost impossible to do. The intensity and gusto of Trump failed to bring it. The deep state and lobbyists in D.C. have become a metastatic cancer that no drug or person can cure.
And even if a way to revamp the party suddenly appeared, we know the moment it became popular would be the same time it would die a rather expeditious death. We watched it happen with MAGA. Murdered by the very ones it could forever cure!
Why would they do this?
Because the Republican Party still sucks!
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