“You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.” – English statesman Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
After a lengthy career in public affairs going back to 1978 tax revolt, Almost DailyBrett readily concurs with those who contend politics is not an exact science.
From former boss California Governor George Deukmejian, your author learned: Never take anything for granted. Campaign as if you are running behind.
Now, we have a new political equation: Take divisive Donald Trump’s drama. Put him into the news on a never-ending basis (e.g., Mar-a-Lago Raid). And the result? Republicans lose.
Remember the prospects of a mid-term Red Wave going to sweep Democrats out of office this fall because of Joe Biden’s raging inflation and deepening recession?
Gasoline prices are still way too high. Stubborn inflation hangs in at a 8.5 percent annual rate. The Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates even higher. The Inflation Reduction Act doesn’t reduce inflation. Cumulatively, the administration has added $4.1 trillion to the obscene $30.7 trillion national debt.
And yet despite all that well-documented national misery, Republicans are scrambling. Republicans are in trouble. Why? The sinister shadow of The Donald.
Trump is synonymous with the GOP. The more Donald Trump is in the news, the more Republicans lose. It’s just that simple.
Do you think the rocket scientists at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) haven’t figured that out? Keep Joe Biden away from the teleprompter, and let Donald Trump dominate the national discourse.
Just as water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees, the more Donald Trump is in the news, the worse the prospects for Republicans. Tedious Trump literally sucks the air out of any room.
For Republicans there has to be a (former UK prime minister) Tony Blair Third Way.
Real Republicans are already frightened by the present-day horror of Kamala Harris being one heart-beat away from the presidency. The prospect of re-electing Biden (assuming he runs) means he would start his second term at 83-years-old with conniving Kamala.
What are the chances of him finishing that term?
Is the only alternative, putting Trump back in office?
There Has To Be An Alternative To Drowning Or Burning At The Stake
“It is easy to forget that Mr Trump loses elections. In the four years of his presidency he lost his party both houses of Congress as well as the White House. Many voters understand that he is dangerous and undemocratic and most do not want him back in office. The reason Mr Trump campaigns so hard against the trustworthiness of the ballot box is that he knows the ballot box can defeat him.” — The Economist, ‘Will Donald Trump run again?’ August 18, 2022
“I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” — Humorist Will Rogers
There was once a political axiom stating: If the Democrats were as organized as the Republicans, the Democrats would never lose an election.
Sure wish it was that simple.
Almost DailyBrett last voted for the Republican nominee for president in 2012 (Mitt Romney). Your author did not pull the lever neither for the Clinton Restoration in 2016 nor the Harris-Biden ticket four years later. More to the point, yours truly wrote-in Paul Ryan in 2016 and favored Mike Pence in 2020.
There were no votes cast for Donald Trump, and there never will be. More than 74 million voted for his re-election in 2020. How can that energy be harnessed for the good of the nation?
When people discover your author is a registered Republican (Almost DailyBrett fondly remembers Ronald Reagan), everyone else instinctively and immediately thinks about Donald Trump.
What is the Third Way for long-time Republicans, who do not want for even another nanosecond of Trump baggage (i.e., January 6, Mar-a-Lago Raid, The Big Lie … )?
Is Lynn Cheney, the answer? Has a sitting member of the House of Representatives without serving as vice president, a governor or senator ever been elected president?
How about the model of upset winning Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin? The Harvard MBA, former CEO of The Carlyle Group did not campaign with the Donald. Youngkin, 55, was respectful of Virginians, who voted for Trump. He focused on issues of concern to millions of parents, what are children being taught in school. He won.
As Winston Churchill once said: “If the present tries to sit in judgment of the past, it will lose the future.”
Donald Trump is the immediate past of the Republican Party. Their is zero upside with litigating The Big Lie, January 6, Mar-a-Lago Raid or other pieces of Trumpian baggage.
A great leader needs to slay the New York street fighter in the coming Republican primaries, pointing to the future with Reaganesque optimism.
Republicans can win again.
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/08/18/will-donald-trump-run-again
https://www.britannica.com/topic/third-way
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/will_rogers_122697
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/democrats-good-chance-winning-mar-a-lago-midterms
(Almost) DailyBrett 