By Raheem Kassam
A flurry of phone calls and texts at 2am taught me that some long-standing MAGA stalwarts are now preparing to ditch Donald Trump because they didn’t get the flood of feel good results last night. This attitude is incorrect, and sober analysis proves it.
The “OMG RED WAVE!!!” brigade are now the most vociferously disappointed. They set expectations so high – all the while carrying water for a Republican National Committee and party leadership led by the deeply unpopular Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell and Ronna Romney McDaniel. Now they’re upset.
Up and down the country, McLeadership candidates and strategies came up short of expectations. Not even all that short, to be fair. But still, deflating enough that people are already playing the blame game. Two can play.
Firstly, DC-based Republicans think its enough to run against something, rather than for something. They also fundamentally underestimated the appeal of Democrat messaging on abortion, student loan forgiveness, and the cringe-inducing “our democracy”. Honestly, we all did. People really are getting dumber and more pliant and there’s no ignoring that anymore, especially when you see how the TikTok generation turned out, and broke for the far-left. Congratulations, by the way, to Communist China for their apparently totally legal and unchallenged election interference, while CNN staffers shriek about how Elon Musk is trying to charge $8 for the very same verification processes they’ve been outwardly demanding for a decade. Argh.
There’s no need either, to sugarcoat Trump’s “bad endorsements”. As if the GOP field offering a choice between Dr. Oz and Dina Powell’s husband was Trump’s fault. Kathy Barnette may have been better, but her star rose too late. Expecting the man the RNC consistently demands to “stay out of it” to simultaneously tread lightly and deploy massive resources to deliver the same McLeadership who worked against him in office is asinine. And imagine what some of these results would have looked like without Trump’s rallies and assistance. Please.
In much of Trump-backed world, things went pretty much as expected, unless you live in that “HASHTAG WINNING!!!” or “OMG RED WAVE!!!” bubble. Expectation management has never been the forte of the political right, especially those who make their livings from keeping you engaged, day in and day out. But then again, that’s their job. Caveat emptor.
Look at it objectively. Vance won. Nevada looks good. Maricopa County attempted another blatant cheat, yet at the time of writing Kari Lake is within 10,000 votes of Katie Hobbs in Arizona. Georgia is predictably going to a run off. Kris Kobach won in Kansas. Joe Kent will win in Washington. Anna Paulina Luna got in. And a host of New York and New Jersey seats flipped red. Heck, even Zeldin came closer than everyone except the quixotic optimists had hoped. No, there wasn’t a “red wave”. But it’s not fair to say there was only a “red trickle” either.
Do I wish some of these campaigns and candidates had called upon some more thoughtful political strategists (ahem) in the past few months? Sure. Am I going to cry about it? Not really. Mitch McConnell can go to hell. Especially since that’s where he’s been trying to send MAGA Republicans for the past six years.
Now, the prescription:
- Democrats run “better” campaigns, mostly because they’re allowed to, which in turn is because they dominate in positions that exert pressure – in politics, media, and culture. It’s easier for Democrats to rip down Republican yard signs without recompense. It’s also easier for left leaning activists to get away with violence or intimidation. Their talking heads are rarely challenged when they lie. They use Chinese Communist-owned platforms like TikTok to radicalise impressionable young voters and they use issues like abortion and student loans to do it. We recognise all of this as immoral. But elections aren’t conducted by Marquess of Queensbury rules. Republicans play touch football and call it smashmouth. Democrats play smashmouth and call it kiss chase.
- The GOP ‘McLeadership’ must change. If you accept that Republicans should have done better in this cycle, you have to go to the source of where the decisions are made and how the money is spent. That’s in the hands of people like Kevin McCarthy, Tom Emmer, Mitch McConnell, and Ronna Romney McDaniel. Trump isn’t a “party leader” in a European political sense. He wasn’t on the ballot this year. He doesn’t control the purse strings, nor the hires inside the GOP. His philosophy is ultimately beholden to centralised implementation.
- DeSantis has a big and bright future. But it cannot come at a cost to the MAGA movement. Even those surrounding and supportive of the victorious Florida governor accept that DeSantis is closer to the GOP comfort zone – including the neoconservatives – than Trump is. The Florida governor had the winds at his back in this election – an horrific opponent, a mass Republican migration to the Sunshine State, and of course, his own well-earned incumbent record to run on. I think I may even have been the first person to tell DeSantis, during a 2015 Sirius XM news interview, that he would be president one day. But I do not think that time is now, and I do not fancy the governor wants to be the “kingmaker” of the party just yet. We shouldn’t force that fight.
Republicans have much to learn from these mid terms. Be glad these lessons can be learned right now, rather than in two years time. Certainly the strategy needs to change. Certainly the messaging needs to improve. Importantly, we’re seeing just how hard holding together a coalition on the right is. Republicans have a broader tent and a bigger problem than the centrifugal left. And it shows.
The 9 losses matter a helluva lot more.
https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1590483020922114048
Kari Lake isn’t running for Congress. Dr. Oz was. So which matters more?
She may be if when she wins running for VP.
Lake is another celebrity opportunist, switching horses as needed. She has been a registered Republican, Independent, Democrat, and a Republican again, all since 2006. She has also switched husbands, states of residence, and religions, converting from Buddhist to Christian. She has said as governor she would deport illegal aliens without federal approval. Maybe she’ll send them to Florida, like Abbott did.
She does not need federal approval to deport illegal aliens
Oh, as opposed to Puto O’Rook? By the way, how DID Francis do in the Texas gubernatorial race?
More incisive MAGA political commentary.
Actually calling Robert Francis a “puto” is pretty much on the mark.
I’m not surprised you don’t get it because you vote for Democrats and you don’t care anything at all about the quality of the candidate, just that they are a Democrat lackey.
Puto O’Rook is a true scumbag. He has written poetry and short stories fantasizing about killing children. He has a criminal record. He’s been a cross-dresser.
But, people can be forgiven for past mistakes if they show they have evolved. But Puto hasn’t; he’s a lying Democrat that tells whatever group he is speaking to what they want to hear. He thumps his chest and declares, “Hell yes, we are taking their AR-15’s!” and then claim he will defend 2nd Amendment rights. He wants the Texas-Mexico border open and the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl unabated, destroy our energy production and maintain the current high inflation.
So, yeah, PUTO O’Rook and if you don’t understand it, that’s YOUR failure.
Speaking of “inclusive”, I haven’t seen you denounce the Democrat’s penchant for calling anyone that disagrees with them “fascists”. So, shove your “inclusive” up your ass.
EXCLUSIVE: Unexplained Ballot Drop in GA Senate Race Likely Prevented Herschel Walker from Winning Race Outright – ‘Drop and Roll’ Pushed Race to Runoff
Maybe we should encourage people to “move” to Georgia just in order to vote for Walker, like Democrats were encouraged to do in 2018.
“So, shove your “inclusive” up your ass.”
I never said anything about “inclusive.”
Sorry, my mistake. I read into it. However, the point remains. My evaluation and characterization of O’Rourke is completely incisive.
66.94% Est. Vote Counted
CandidateTotal Votes%
VotesHobbs (D)911,282 50.1%
Lake (R)907,545 49.9%
The only way Boebert could lose is if they committed fraud.
2 hours ago a batch of 2,343 votes was reported and Boebert received 9 more votes than Frisch. Frisch leads by 64 votes overall.
Oct 14, 2022On Thursday morning, Breitbart News exclusively reported that a former business owner in the Aspen, Colorado, area named Todd Gardner accused Frisch of allegedly having an affair in a storage unit facility he owned and then using the knowledge of that affair to blackmail Frisch into changing his position on the Aspen City Council to help his business. Gardner provided emails and surveillance footage of Frisch arriving at the facility on the morning of May 8, 2017, to back up his case.
Just the kind of solid family man the democrats love.
Definitely within election fraud range for a Democrat victory.
“Oh, look… we found ANOTHER box of votes and, whattayaknow, they’re ALL DEMOCRAT!”
Dr. Oz was running for Senate.
1 vote in over 500 or running an entire state, which do you think is more important?
Why did Democrats and Fetterman hide the fact that his brain doesn’t work until millions of mail-in votes were cast? Is support for drug abuse, crime, inflation and energy castration REALLY what Democrat voters stand for?
Only to you, Trump was not on the ticket he gave many a boost, they still ha to run their own campaign. Here the candidate failed running to bowling alleys and lack of focused message, Trump got him through the primaries, he nearly rode the coat tails all the way to a win, I did not vote for him in the primary, he was no Wisconsinite.
No they do not.
Republicans won the House and will likely the Senate
Indeed. Democrats didn’t have to rig ALL the elections. Just certain ones, like we all expected they would.
Liberals are always blaming others for everything like when there is a mass shooting they blame Guns they blame Trump for everything including the Pandemic and the M.S. Media always blame Conservatives for everything since t heir losing their supporters and continue to do so
Trump told an interviewer that if the election was successful for Republicans he deserved all the credit, and if it turned out to be a disappointment, he deserved none of the blame.
Video
That’s fine.
Biden essentially told the nation that half of us have to be killed off.
I’ll take Trump, please. Arrogance and narcissism is only a problem for Democrats if it’s found in a Republican, after the man who made it acceptable, Barack Obama.
Dismissed.
We’ve allowed for a generation of immature women, and weak men, to think they have a “voice” because they get rankled by someone’s personality, ignoring competence and effectiveness in the process.
The Left is a childish mob of jealous dimwits.
Nothing more.
Remember my comment about you leftists having no sense of humor? Well, there you go…
Agreed!
Brad Raffensperger, who openly defied Trump, wins reelection as Georgia Secretary of State; he received 54% of the 3.4 million votes cast; his opponent received only 44%. There’s the Trump Effect.
He got all the dead voter support.
No, that’s people rejecting Democrats, dumbass.
Many elections were rigged, clearly.
https://twitter.com/alexbruesewitz/status/1590556884997898240?t=uS0G6Zg7r54IdTn2fEvOVA&s=19
We, here, and most of the people I know, make themselves well informed. We have all been lied to, seen lies and, with the exception of a limited few, despise the lies and distrust mainstream information. So, we check things out and make sure we are informed.
Speaking for myself, I sometimes lose sight of the fact that the majority do not do this, have been lied to but either don’t realize, can’t accept it or simply don’t care and WANT to hear lies that makes them confident in their poor decisions. So, it surprises us when a mass of people make really stupid decisions.
In the real world, Oz would have won. ANYONE should have defeated Fecalman and his Chief of Staff, Massivenecklump, but Democrats push early, early, early voting and most had already voted for Mr. Braindead before his embarrassing exposure in the debate, a mere two weeks before the election (absolutely and dishonestly by Democrat design). Voting Republican is against the instincts of Pennsylvania, but when the alternative is crime, inflation, high energy costs and fuel shortages, a Republican victory is reasonable. But Democrats are masters of deception and that’s how they win elections.