So much for the Republican strategy
All too often, Republicans tend to be inadvertently hailed by media pundits as playing some game of three-dimensional chess whenever they implement their latest strategy. The trouble with this argument is that nearly every time they try a new strategy, it’s really just some slight modifications of the old one – find some kind of culture war boogeyman they can repeat over and over again until they drum up some outrage among their base and then hope that it resonates with just enough people in the middle for them to win elections.
Right now, we’re seeing all evidence that Republicans are strategic be thrown out the window – first with Ted Cruz’s demented attack on Big Bird and further still with the party’s division on the BIF bill which will be signed on Monday by President Biden. Only 13 Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill and while the media tried to frame the proposal as doomed unless the opposition voted to save the president’s agenda, it’s not exactly holding up. The ones who did vote for it aren’t being hailed as heroes in their home districts with Congress in recess – but instead a number of them are receiving death threats due to the widespread conservative myths about what’s in the bill.
It’s gotten even worse now that the signing ceremony for Monday has been announced and the Republican lawmakers who signed have been invited where they will be seen and photographed alongside President Biden as he signs the same agreement that the former guy couldn’t get signed, meaning they probably haven’t seen the worst of the backlash yet, something that will likely manifest itself in the form of primaries to their right next year. The bottom line is – these guys hate each other and they’re not organized – they just occasionally know when they can put up a front – and we should call it out at every opportunity.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making