Conservatives are haunted by House Republicans who make all manner of campaign promises but, once in office, forget their obligations to voters or justify why they reneged on their word to support or reject a particular piece of legislation. Our biggest disappointments to date are probably their epic failure regarding Obamacare and capitulations ad nauseam regarding anything budgetary.
The Republican counter-response to these repeated failures has been less than exemplary. Basically, all we’ve done is eat our own. Recall Kevin McCarthy, who had a tough time getting elected Speaker in January 2023—a prolonged, painful, and very public process that did not reflect well on House Republicans. In exchange for enough votes to win after 15 ballots, McCarthy agreed that any one member could bring a motion to vacate his Speakership.
Out of abject frustration and the desire to make a point (and perhaps a desire to make history), Rep. Matt Gaetz caused an uproar among his Republican colleagues and millions of constituents when he successfully moved to vacate Speaker McCarthy on October 3, 2023—unleashing a Game of Thronesian Red October where candidates like Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer were paraded about as successors, then electorally crucified until Mike Johnson was elected on October 25.
It was a bloody mess. Although many agreed in principle, most didn’t see any strategic value given our newfound but very slim majority and the need to present a united front until we could re-elect Trump and increase our numbers in Congress. Looking frail and scattered, they presented the antithesis of two core Democrat party principles: Never eat one’s own and always vote in lockstep.
While most of us have put Red October behind us, we find ourselves in the same position today, only this time, the 2024 election is closer, the world has been turned upside down, the nation is imploding, and we all feel like chickens running around with our heads cut off. Against this backdrop, Marjorie Taylor Greene is seeking to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.
Wondering how deep the rift might be, I decided to poll Tea Party and MAGA conservatives who belong to 75m & Rising, a group I started after Trump’s 2020 loss. I asked, “Do you support Marjorie Taylor Greene’s efforts to oust Speaker Michael Johnson?”
Out of 280 responses, 23.2% were Yes; 38.9% were No; and 37.9% agreed that “While Republicans must change how they do business, the solution isn’t ousting him at this time.”
In this solid sample of Tea Party and MAGA conservatives—precisely the type of individuals who support politicians like Gaetz and Greene—76.8% do not support ousting Speaker Johnson.
I’d be curious to see if national polls among Tea Party and MAGA conservatives would align with these results. Even President Trump has defended and continues to support Speaker Johnson. Let’s hope MJT gets the memo.
Like so many of you, I toggle back and forth between that frustration and anger over Republican ineptitude and the practical knowledge that comes with political experience, which demands that we think and behave more strategically. With barely a one-man majority and the most consequential election of our lifetimes looming, we must keep our House in order and be of one mind.
This is not the time for intra-party squabbles. Red October proves such a move will only engender more bedlam. Our majority is already too attenuated to risk any further reductions. The optics will be glaringly negative, and the Republican Party and conservative movement will be perceived as frail, sloppy, unreliable, and chaotic. We must acknowledge that the thin majority we had under Speaker McCarthy and the feeble majority Speaker Johnson now has are not enough to pass any of the conservative agenda.
It seems we are forever outflanked by the left, and, if we oust again, they will benefit from our self-inflicted wound.
Numbers determine power within the Beltway, and numbers are the result of elections. It’s that simple. Until we have the White House and solid majorities in the House and Senate, the conservative agenda will wither on the vine. Our focus today should not be on committing political suicide but on winning.
To younger voters who might be conservative, Republicans look out-of-control, intransigent, difficult to work with, and overly demanding in a 50:50 country. They want to join us but are reluctant—are conservatives too traditional? Too out-of-touch with the contemporary American Zeitgeist? Too…dare I say it, extreme?
I’m not saying we should change who we are or what we stand for to get young votes but, at the very least, we should contain the histrionics and what looks like erratic behavior! They wonder if the Republicans/conservatives are being led by extreme right-wingers just as the Democrats are being led by ultra-commie pinko progressive Marxists? No doubt, this is promoted and reinforced by the Democrat Media-Educational-Corporate Complex and the LGBTQ+ and Race Cartels, but the machinations of Gaetz and Greene, and some of the imbecilic things conservatives say, make us vulnerable.
I question how much longer Americans can continue to vote in ways that put the nation in jeopardy. I get that taking such a strong stand, even against our own, mirrors the kind of Trumpian disruption that has been effective in the past. I understand the frustration—reflected in 25% of my polling respondents—that leaves people so fed up that they are ready to give up.
But don’t. Don’t give up. Don’t protest vote. Don’t sit this one out. Don’t stop supporting candidates financially. Don’t turn against fellow conservatives despite differences.
We must all do our part to Get Out the Vote as well as Get Out and Vote.
Change takes time and comes from the grassroots up. When the Tea Party did this, we saw results and changed the face of Congress, along with local offices and legislatures. It took 50 years to get the Roe v. Wade results we wanted.
In a country that’s been taken over by progressive and anti-American forces, the GOP must have a long-term plan, but it doesn’t. Strategically speaking, all I see is spaghetti being thrown at the wall.
If we learned one lesson from the Gaetz-McCarthy affair, it’s that eating our own and leaving behind the strewn corpses of good people like Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and now Mike Johnson is not the answer.
We never should have forced George Santos out—his fate and accountability for his lies should have been left for the next election. Were his lies and corruption any worse than what we’ve witnessed with Biden? But we turned on him before the Dems did and lost another vote. The strategically intelligent approach would have been to hold our noses and keep that vote.
Critical to any kind of political success is grassroots involvement. It requires devotion, time, and money from average Joes. The Democrats have immense infrastructure in place for this, solidified under Obama. We have nothing, folks. Zip. Without infrastructure and grassroots support, we cannot coordinate and mobilize to effectuate change and rack up wins.
Republicans and conservatives get a big fat F in drumming up and organizing support. Frankly, if they have any infrastructure or a strategy of any sort, I don’t see it. Their messaging is non-existent.
Since the GOP can’t seem to do it, the grassroots need to step in. This can take decades but pressure on the GOP could speed the process.
Whether you align with the 25% who support the ouster or the 75% who don’t, our mutual goals should be getting Trump elected and shoring him up with a viable House and Senate majority.
To do that, Republicans must be the adults in the room, reasonable, organized, united, composed, sane, and with the best solutions for this country’s worst problems.
And remember:
- Be aware of riding your principles right off a cliff;
- Always vote in lock-step. Rogue voting is a victory for the left;
- Organize, coordinate, and mobilize; and
- Have a snappy, informative message.