By Jeffrey A. Rendall
When things aren’t getting done that were promised to voters, Trump takes special notice
What’s wrong with the Republican Party?
If you’re a regular news consumer, you’ve surely noticed reports regarding the dearth of popular backing for Democrats in today’s political mix. I’ve highlighted a number of them, finding personal solace and comfort that, although President Donald J. Trump continues to struggle with overall approval ratings, Democrats have problems of their own convincing Americans to leap on their party bandwagon.
Weren’t Democrats not-so-long ago described as woke, weak and out-of-touch?
It’s all true. Democrats devote much of their time to championing political causes that hover near pure fantasy in the “woke” realm, ideas most common sense folks roundly reject. Examples? How about “Defund the Police”… or “Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 (or was it 2030?)”, or the most nonsensical baloney of all, “America is stronger because of its diversity,” and, “men can get pregnant.”
These are slogans you’d encounter on today’s college campuses, but fill up your tank at the gas station and the consumers there are more pre-occupied with saving a few cents on a gallon than they are with rescuing the planet one ill-considered law or government regulation at a time.
Democrats aren’t pleasing people either.
This week’s ongoing debate over moving and then passing the SAVE America Act has exposed a chasm-sized flaw in the Republican Party as well. Voters with long memories recall how most Republicans have promised for years/decades to safeguard our voting processes, yet lawmakers develop cold feet after arriving in Washington.
Republicans aren’t necessarily woke, weak and out of touch; but they’re also renowned for epic failures, shying away from tough political choices and becoming unwilling/unable to govern once they’re given the opportunity to decide by responsible Americans.
President Trump has changed the impression of perpetual Republican establishment fecklessness during his time in office, but the 45th and 47th president can’t do it by his lonesome. And Trump’s threats and regular brow-beathing of weaklings haven’t brandished – or restored – the party’s traditional can-do character, either.
Conservatives need someone to blame. Majority Leader John Thune has unwittingly offered himself as a scapegoat. In an article titled, “Thune becomes MAGA’s midterm ‘fall guy’ with voting bill crusade”, David Sivak reported the other day at the Washington Examiner:
“Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump Republican operative, said the president was setting Thune up to be the ‘fall guy’ for a midterm loss. ‘I mean, everybody’s got a turn in the dunk tank,’ Madrid said. ‘It’s probably Thune’s turn. At some point, your number is picked, and this just might be his number.’
“Madrid argued it would instead be the ‘self-inflicted wounds’ of Trump that cost Republicans their majorities, naming tariffs, the war in Iran, and the aggressive tactics of federal immigration agents. ‘He’s never going to take responsibility for creating this mess,’ Madrid added, ‘and that’s the great irony – this is all a complete self-own, and everybody knows it.’ …
“But conservatives perceive the lack of action as Thune’s unwillingness, despite supporting the bill, to whip votes for a priority the base cares about. Thune, for his part, says he is simply delivering the ‘not so good news that the math doesn’t add up.’”
It depends on who calculates the math and who you ask that matters.
The reality is Thune won’t use the intra-caucus weapons/incentives at his disposal, and Trump, like everyone who supports MAGA, sees Thune as basically the current embodiment of Mitch McConnell. The entire Republican agenda is being held up by a few senators. House Speaker Mike Johnson has whipped his troops into shape, why can’t Thune do the same on his side?
Contrary to what Mike Madrid said (in the above quote), what this all boils down to is Trump’s instinctive desire to give voters what they want. If voters, through polls and surveys, have indicated that they approve of stepped-up elections integrity measures, it only makes sense to do something that’s popular to satisfy them.
Add the fact Democrats almost universally oppose said elections integrity improvements and you’ve achieved the classic definition of a wedge issue the GOP desperately needs to take a portion of voters’ focus off of hard economic numbers. This fall, Democrats will spin data to paint Republicans as unwilling and unable to correct the course until they themselves are returned to power.
This is partisan reality. Even if Republicans lose the House (and Senate?) majority after this year’s midterms, they won’t have the political capital to get things done with a very motivated Donald Trump poised to use his veto pen during the last couple years of his ground-breaking presidency.
So, what will Democrats do if they somehow end up with power again? Probably a whole lot of nothing, but they’ll stand around fretting about moving things forward nonetheless – and gripe about how Trump prevented them from doing so. Like they did in 2019, they’ll ramp up the inane investigations and who knows, maybe even assemble enough votes to pass another absurd House impeachment effort that everyone knows will go nowhere.
Regardless, the stupid third (or fourth?) impeachment movement will attract the shiny-object seeking media and guarantee another couple years’ worth of political pundit job security where the usual talking heads will pontificate about “high crimes and misdemeanors” and Trump could be weakened politically. Democrats will earnestly attempt to ruin Trump’s presidential legacy, just as they did forty years ago in the waning days of Ronald Reagan’s second term with Iran Contra.
So, in essence, Trump pushes the SAVE America Act so hard because voters want stepped-up elections integrity – and the issue is popular. Since Trump has almost single-handedly solved the illegal immigration matter – at least the open borders part – Republicans need a new rack to hang their campaign hats on.
It’s not that complicated, is it?
At the same time, Trump hopes to preserve his right to complain about the 2020 election count, so he swears that solving Voter ID and preventing illegal alien participation is vitally necessary to sanitize the process. These things are part of it, but what is probably equally vital are the bill’s provisions requiring states to purge their voter rolls, get rid of mail-in ballots and to ensure that blue state officials get moving to tighten their enforcement measures.
Will these improvements result in more Republicans winning tight elections? Maybe? Probably? Voter registration is only one piece of the overall puzzle. Is this necessary to SAVE America? This is open to individual assessment, but everything that can be done to make voting more secure is a good thing.
But Trump isn’t necessarily wrong to place the onus on Majority Leader Thune to do something – now — about the filibuster, knowing full well that the passage of the rest of the MAGA agenda depends on the Senate getting off its keister and doing stuff. And the existence of the filibuster squarely stands in the way.
It’s arguable Trump was so energized by the recent Supreme Court ruling on the validity of his tariff scheme (because the Court returned the power to Congress) that it only increased the urgency. And Trump knows Congress will NEVER do anything quickly, least of all act on a trade matter that impacts Trump’s entire foreign policy portfolio.
If Trump can’t threaten the “stick” with foreign powers, how to get them to cooperate with America’s interests? The Court decision was akin to tying Trump’s hands behind his back.
It’s no wonder Trump reacted to the SAVE America Act being stalled by Thune and the mostly worthless contingent of RINO establishment senators so forcefully. Passing the legislation does mean very, very, much, and it’s not just because voters will be required to show IDs to stave off cheating. Or even to make sure illegal aliens don’t vote, though that is certainly an ongoing goal.
This is ultimately about Trump’s mission to induce Thune to ditch the filibuster, and the president has decided that elections integrity is his hill do die on to compel action. More or less, everything in Trump’s world now depends on getting Thune to trash the current iteration of the filibuster rules.
Thune can and must do more to exhaust the powers at his disposal. The health and success of the party equals much more than preserving the goodwill of individual RINO senators. Look at it that way, John.
Democrats would do something similar if/when they obtained the power to do so. Then, if/when they elect another Democrat president, with congressional majorities, just stand back and watch the parade of republic-destroying legislative carnage that ensues.
Yes, the SAVE America Act is darn important. But there’s much more to it. The bill’s provisions are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, Trump understands this. Most Republicans seemingly do too. Don’t let the run-and-gun rhetorical back-and-forth fool you. When Trump says this is for all the marbles… he’s not spitballing.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .