Op-Ed: It's Time for Republicans to Grow Up and Save the Red Wave
It has always been a marvel how the Democrats pull together.
They may fight among themselves, but they see themselves as change agents. They tend to set aside their differences and work for the long-term goal of bringing socialism to America. It has been a 70-year project, and they are winning.
More than 50 years ago, when I was active in conservative campus politics, getting conservatives and, even worse, libertarians to get anything done was almost impossible. It seemed like everyone wanted to do it their way. It may be a shop-worn phrase, but it is completely applicable: Organizing conservatives is like herding cats.
Perhaps the difference is that Democrats and progressives are collectivist by nature, and therefore following the group is easier for them. Conservatives tend to admire individualism and like to be contrary.
Why is this important?
While polling data is sketchy and still controlled largely by the corporate media, which can shade the way questions are phrased and the data subsequently interpreted, it appears that despite widespread disdain for President Joe Biden, the coming election may not be a red wave at all. Local races do not seem to attach themselves well to national discontent.
One side suggests that Trump supporters, who have largely taken over the Republican Party in some states, have put forth an inferior slate of candidates. Much of the blame for this is placed on Trump himself, who injected himself into the primary process and thereby allowed reflexive loyalties to short-circuit the selection process.
My phone is constantly pinging with messages such as, “The establishment hates Trump. They raided his home!”
It is not that these contentions are not true. They are. But it is all about him. It is all about Trump, what he is saying, what he is doing, and what is being done to him. If the MAGA movement is going to succeed, it has to be about more than just Trump. It is going to have to be about issues, principles and solutions.
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The American people are looking for common sense solutions. The Democrats are wrecking the country, our liberty and our standard of living. Not much is required of conservatives other than appearing reasonable.
Others contend it is the views of the new crop of candidates. Buying heavily into criticism from leftist media outlets like The New York Times, some Republicans see their fellow party members as fringe or nutty on most issues.
Also, big business is getting comfortable with crony capitalism, and much of the Chamber of Commerce type of Republican now feels more comfortable with Democratic policies. They like the cheap labor from illegal immigration and they like trading with the Chinese, even when their client or manufacturing partner runs concentration camps and kills its own people for organ harvesting. They happily do this with a high ESG score.
Interestingly, most of these critics don’t see the border as an issue, don’t understand the threat of China, don’t care much about the deficit, and can’t muster much opposition to wokeness.
Many of the MAGA candidates are attractive, and unlike much of the party establishment that gave us John McCain and Mitt Romney, these candidates are willing to fight. And it is worth pointing out that many of these “inferior candidates” were chosen fairly in primary elections.
It would seem the Never Trumpers have a problem with projection. While accusing Trump of making it all about him, they want to make the race all about them. Can we really say that Trump’s ego is worse than say Liz Cheney’s? After taking a thunderous loss among her constituents in Wyoming, she is reportedly already out raising money for a presidential run.
Or how about the ego of Mitch McConnell?
The goal should be to elect candidates as conservative as possible. And if the conservative candidate does not dot every I and cross every T for you, suck it up and support the conservative who was chosen. You had your shot in the primary and lost.
But we can’t win if a substantial part of the party does not see the validity in the choices made by voters in a primary election. It seems that some individuals who see a constant “danger to our democracy” haven’t noticed that MAGA candidates were chosen through the democratic process. Who is the danger to democracy here?
For example, in the Arizona gubernatorial race, Kari Lake was outspent 5 to 1, yet she won every county in the state.
She is the party choice. Whatever nuanced differences one may have with her, she is an attractive, articulate, conservative candidate. Bury your differences and get behind her, or you are going to get the radical progressive Democrat by the name of Katie Hobbs.
It is clear that conservatives and Republicans need to grow up. The differences among us are minor compared to the threat posed by the Democrats, who now have been captured almost entirely by the radical left.
It is time to dig into your pockets and put your money where your mouth is. It is also time to volunteer and get to work to make sure this window of national discontent is not blown by petty intra-party feuds and oversized egos.
Yes, Trump has an oversized ego. It is doubtful that as an outsider he could have achieved what he did without it. But most of his opponents also have oversized egos.
Importantly, though, this race is not directly about Trump — it is about advancing candidates for state and national positions against an extremely well-funded and cunning opposition.
We don’t have the media, the universities, professional philanthropy, Hollywood or the big corporations on our side. All we have is each other. It is time to circle the wagons and fight. We lose not because of the Democrats but because we can’t pull together.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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