Pressure
They brought it on themselves
While I’m on vacation, I’m updating and reposting several items from last year that I think remain relevant. I wrote today’s post in November 2022 as a follow-up to the essay I posted on Monday about what Republicans would need to accept if they were to break up with Donald Trump. Today’s post addresses the pressure Trump is putting on the Republican party as it looks ahead to 2024. I kept the eleven-month old references to the incoming Republican House because all the predictions came true.
I ended last Monday’s essay by saying Republicans are about to experience life in a pressure cooker of their own making. The pressure will come from Donald Trump's presence in the presidential campaign and his influence over the incoming House majority.
As long as he isn't in a position to destroy American democracy, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving. Because right now he is positioned to destroy the Republican party.
Remember, the key to this is Trump's control over that 35 to 40 percent of the Republican base that is personally devoted to him. As long as he holds those voters, Republicans will never be able to move on.
Republicans may not be in the mood for another primary contest that revolves around Trump, but they won't have that choice. To those who hoped he would delay his presidential announcement until after the Georgia Senate runoff because of the damage it did to Herschel Walker, the next year-plus promises to be filled with reminders that Trump still controls the Republican party. (And to those Republicans who told The Hill newspaper that they're "baffled" that Trump would step on Walker's messaging and fundraising: have you not been paying attention?)
If anyone doubts Trump's hold on the party, they need look no further than the House Republican caucus, which is about to engage in a revenge tour that will channel all of Trump's grievances about Joe Biden and the "stolen" 2020 election into hearings and potentially impeachment resolutions.
Which is to say that for the next two years, America will be treated to a crazy display of everything they rejected at the polls last November. And to those who voted Republican because they felt the party had a better approach to the economy, well, that just doesn't seem to be on the list of priorities for the next congress.
Instead, we will be getting endless investigations into Hunter Biden's laptop and efforts to defund the Justice Department. That should make those voters feel good about their choice.
From a political standpoint, the midterms produced the second-best outcome for Democrats—and democracy. The best outcome would have been Democrats holding the House and adding two senators, allowing them to modify the filibuster and produce system-affirming legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act that narrowly failed last year.
But the outcome we got is almost as good, because it will shine an unforgiving light on MAGA extremism and give Joe Biden the foil he badly needs as he considers running for a second term.
As long as he isn't in a position to destroy American democracy, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving.
Extremism is the key. Extremism has cost Republicans three consecutive elections. The public just voted against it, and now they're going to get a full dose of extremism from the Republican House and the Republican presidential campaign.
This will put unrelenting pressure on a party that remains beholden to a crime boss as it grows increasingly at odds with a majority of the country. It is the worst possible positioning for Republicans as they look ahead to 2024.
And that's before the indictments land.