The great MAGA meltdown
The latest wave of Republican infighting is a strong reminder that they’re not particularly good at this. The former guy just inspired a whole lot of people who hate government to get involved in government and a lot of them lost their elections – but it was a midterm election that should have been another wave year – the way 2018 was for the Democrats – or the way 2014 was for Republicans.
Republicans in those years, as now, campaigned on obstructing and sabotaging everything they could. The problem is, since their majority is so narrow in the House, there isn’t much they can propose that won’t alienate moderate voters – while the party leadership will regularly have to cave to the far-right reps in order to appease the base and secure the votes of people like Marjorie Taylor Greene on even the most basic issues – like who will be the next House Speaker.
Kevin McCarthy’s flailing hasn’t gone unnoticed – particularly as Democrats have strengthened their Senate majority. The fact that Democrats control the Senate is a major reason that the GOP’s worst plans will never see the light of day – but Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took things a step further following Sen. Warnock’s re-election win. He rightly decried the current trajectory the GOP has taken that has cost them elections and offered to work with non-MAGA Republicans.
This could be seen by some as a naive gesture – but in fact it’s a move that can’t hurt Schumer whether or not Republicans take it up. It absolves the Democratic Senate of blame for any of the MAGA foolishness while also forcing the GOP to take a side – to accomplish important legislation as the current Congress and Biden Administration have been doing thus far, or to waste everyone’s time and lose re-election anyway in 2024.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making