The Stupid Party Gets Stupider
Most of the inept GOP figures responsible for the party’s malaise will retain their power.
by George Neumayr
November 16, 2022, 11:22 PM
Victory has a thousand fathers. Defeat is an orphan,” observed the late Democratic President John F. Kennedy. But that’s certainly not the view in the GOP, where those responsible for the party’s malaise, far from suffering the ostracism of the unwanted orphan, remain the fathers of the party. Kevin McCarthy’s pre-election pitch, “Commitment to America,” proved a total flop. Yet his colleagues have nominated him to serve as speaker of the House. It is hard to imagine a more ineffectual Republican leader than McCarthy.
The party seems to exist not to stop destructive liberal policies but to ratify them.
Meanwhile, Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, whose idea of strengthening the party includes sending tweets out in praise of LGBTQ “Pride Month,” appears to enjoy enough support within the GOP to remain in her role.
The GOP has been dubbed the “stupid party” for good reason. It seems to exist not to stop destructive liberal policies but to ratify them. This is particularly true on social issues. Senate Democrats, for example, are set to codify gay marriage not in spite of the GOP but because of it: pro-LGBTQ Republicans have signaled that they will support the Democratic bill.
The stupid party is getting, if anything, stupider. Despite the party’s anemic performance in the fall elections, the figures most responsible for it will likely fail upward. McCarthy, McDaniel, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and other feckless Republican leaders will not disappear but continue to exert influence over the party’s direction.
Many of them are now taking opportunistic cover in the anti-Trump juggernaut that is speeding up. The party’s know-it-alls, the same ones who wrote Trump’s political obituary in 2016, are once again claiming that Trump has no chance of winning in 2024 and moving into action to make sure that that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Never mind that this subversive campaign means helping the Democrats stay in the White House. Destroying Trump is more important to them than winning.
This, of course, is highly ironic, given that these “pragmatic” Republicans normally instruct the base of the party to lighten up about imperfect candidates. They don’t adopt that relaxed attitude toward Trump. They hate him with a passion and hope that he loses. But will he? Maybe, maybe not. He managed to beat Hillary Clinton despite widespread opposition within the GOP.
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https://spectator.org/the-stupid-party-gets-stupider/
