If you were a conservative with a modicum of influence over Republican voters, would you spend your time on air discussing the Democrat primaries all day, or would you try to influence Republican congressional primaries that will actually matter to conservatives? That is the choice in the coming weeks and months confronting anyone who considers himself a movement conservative.
Conservatives were universally shocked and appalled by Mitt Romney’s vote to convict the president on impeachment charges, thereby giving cover to vulnerable Democrats. However, anyone who has cared about any major policy issue aside form impeachment shouldn’t be shocked at all. They should be appalled that liberal Republicans like Romney, who seem to be numberless, continue to be welcome in the party despite dissenting from the party platform on almost every important issue.
As I wrote last week, Romney was running in an open seat in 2018 and had a challenger from the Utah state legislature who was actually the pick of delegates at the state convention. Trump, as he has done in numerous races, pulled the rug out from under his most ardent supporters and endorsed Romney, even though both his liberal policy views and his personal disdain for Trump were well known and articulated for years.
The question now is whether conservatives and the president himself will learn from these mistakes and actually endorse the right people in primaries. The first GOP primaries begin on March 3 in several states including Alabama, Texas, and North Carolina. Early voting begins even sooner. There are numerous House, Senate, and gubernatorial races that feature clear contrasts between conservatives and Romney-style Republicans. Yet there is no focus in conservative media on these primaries, as Trump endorses NeverTrumpers. Instead, they focus on taking sides between Bernie and Biden.
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Look at Tennessee, for example. This is a state Trump carried by 26 points statewide and won 92 of 95 counties. Yet for years, it has been run by “Rockefeller†Romney-style Republicans, from Bill Haslam and Bill Lee as governors to Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander as senators. However, with Alexander retiring, Trump endorsed the most liberal candidate from day one – Bill Hagerty. He was a delegate for Jeb Bush, of all people, during the 2016 presidential primary. Hagerty is also a longtime friend and adviser to … Mitt Romney!
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Conservatives have a choice to make. As February turns into March, each week will bring with it a new act of the drama that is the Democratic primaries. The drama will have no bearing on conservatives, nor can any conservative figure wield any influence over that outcome. The real question is this: Will Republicans finally build a bench of elected officials who will provide a bold contrast to whichever radical emerges from the Democrat primaries?
Time is running out, and the primary schedule is very compact. It’s time to get to work or consign the Republican Party to Mitt Romney and his numerous well-funded allies.
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/horowitz-will-romneys-betrayal-finally-get-conservatives-focused-priorities/
