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Has the Republican Brand Become Toxic?
With the loss of the election for mayor in Chicago and the loss of the supreme court election in Wisconsin, I am beginning to wonder if it is even possible for a conservative, and more particularly, a Republican to be elected in many places in the United States. According to the reporting and even the reaction from some Republican leaders, the issue in Wisconsin was abortion. It seems to me, that while this is likely a relevant issue, it is only part of a larger opposition to the Republican party and the conservative movement in major segments of the American population. It seems to me, that as conservatives, we have to face this issue squarely as we approach 2024.
After the terrible results from the 2022 midterms, one on-air pundit made a statement that I think explains not just 2022, but these two recent losses in Chicago and Wisconsin, he said, “The Republican brand is so toxic right now.” Remember Hillary’s description of the “deplorables:” they are “homophobic, xenophobic, racist, islamophobic…” That is how we conservatives are perceived by way too many people in this country. It is a large part of why we are going to have a hard time winning elections going forward. We are seen as bigots and at least supportive of white supremacy. It is almost unthinkable for a young person to vote for a Republican today. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.
We can complain all we want about how unfair the media has been to conservatives and of course, to Trump. We can list all the ways that we have been deplatformed and shadow-banned. We can describe all the ways that we suffer under a two-tiered justice system. But, in the end, we are complaining to ourselves and among ourselves. Our complaints gain no traction outside of our websites and news channels. This is a huge problem that I see no one even attempting to deal with much less change. Part of why they feel justified in their abuse of conservatives is what I said before. For many in the media, conservatives are evil personified. It is why Biden could invoke “Jim Crow 2.0” when Georgia passed its election reform laws, and major corporations would pile on to punish the state for its decision. It is why we can be described as a “threat to democracy” and no one in the media bats an eye.
I had some hope that Elon Musk, Matt Taibbi, Michael Schellenberger, and even before them Glen Greenwald would penetrate the so-called Media Bubble, but it simply hasn’t happened. They have just been lumped in with the rest of the “Right-Wing Crazies” on Fox News and almost completely ignored. In other words, honest journalism reflected in the recent “conversions” of liberals like Bari Weiss and Sasha Stone along with Musk and the others hasn’t moved the needle.
I continue to believe that the upcoming hearings in the House on corruption in the FBI and DOJ, the hearings on the Biden family, and hearings on government induced censorship of the internet will finally break through to the American public. However, all of these hearings and their results will be “filtered” through the larger media, and we have been repeatedly dismayed by their ability to deflect, ignore, and spin the reporting of all of these things. We already have a large history with all the ways they ignored and denied the Steele Dossier, the obvious FISA abuse, the Hunter Biden laptop, and now the collaboration between federal agencies and the social media giants.
All this to say that we are in serious trouble as a movement with hopes to restore sanity and conservative values to American society. We face unprecedented headwinds when it comes to the major institutions in American society. I honestly don’t know what we can do to change any of this. But I also know that we have to make the attempt. We certainly can’t keep doing what we are doing, which is complaining to each other and pointing out all the ways that we are being abused. No one on the other side cares, and in fact, most of them think that we deserve all of that abuse and more. Nor can we fight among ourselves and accuse each other of being “RINOs” and members of the “Uniparty.” We have to find a way to stand up for conservatism and conservative values the way that progressives unify around their so-called progressive “values.” This is an existential fight that we almost can’t afford to lose. Biden was correct about one thing, this really is a battle for the soul of America.
Nor can we fight fire with fire. January 6th revealed beyond a shadow of doubt that if we adopt their tactics of protest and riot (see BLM and all of the George Floyd protests) they will make us pay. This so-called “insurrection” has already been baked into the narrative of the Republican party and it is part of the reason we lost these recent elections. I have no idea how we break out of the current stereotype that paints us as “semi-fascists.” Part of what makes this so discouraging to me personally is the centrality of Donald Trump in the narrative. It feels like a complete “Catch-22” scenario. It appears that all of the indictments and scandals surrounding Trump guarantee that he will be the Republican nominee, and that he will just as surely lose the 2024 election. He is the epitome of the semi-fascist narrative: a narcissistic demagogue who wants to take over America. It doesn’t matter that this isn’t true, it is the story that so many people believe, and which will determine their vote.
The elections in Chicago and Wisconsin seem to me to be a foreshadowing of what lies ahead for the entire country. We desperately need to move away from the failed policies of the Left, but the voters keep electing Leftist politicians primarily because they aren’t Republicans. Until we face up to how toxic our “brand” has become I see no hope for us to restore sane governance to American society. I am not talking about pandering or compromising our values to appeal to the Left or even to moderates. We have to learn how to present our values in a compelling way. For too long the Left has presented themselves as the defenders of the poor, of women, of children, and as the party of compassion and the defenders of justice and equality. We have to learn how to use language the way that they do only legitimately and in the service of all that is right and true. They patronize the poor, women, and minorities. They are the party of paternalism. Their patronizing has, in fact, kept many of these communities in semi-permanent dependency and poverty. If there is structural racism in America it exists on the Left not on the Right. For too long we have allowed the Left to get away with its false narrative. We have to learn how to push back and to expose them for the ideologues they are.
Published in Elections
Which is why I was happy when Trump went into those areas that other Republicans had abandoned.
And that was by McCain and McConnell, people allegedly on the Republican side.
Yeah, the response to the Tea Party movement putting Republicans back in power was Republicans trying to destroy the Tea Party movement.
The GOP demonstrated back then how much it hates its base. And this is why we return the sentiment.
This is old thinking. The only way to win is chase the ballots. You have hound and harass people to turn in their ballots early. If Madison puts a drop box in a park, then every church in WI puts on a drop box in the narthex and every gun store/range/show has a drop box at the entrance. If you own camo then someone should be knocking on your door asking you fill out your ballot for ‘Merica!
The best thing to do is allow small competing institutions and prevent them from amalgamating. Kind of the way we were supposed to do corporations.
I’ll come back and read the rest of the comments later, but let me say this. Being disappointed that a Democrat will be the next mayor of Chicago is like being disappointed that the Superbowl MVP award went to a football player, and not a golfer or boxer. It’s been over 90 years since Chicago had a Republican mayor.
I’m in the Knights of Columbus. It was founded to protect and support the Catholic (and Irish) community at a time and place where both were discriminated against. Mutual aid and benefit society. We might need something similar for political ends.
????
Not convinced McConnell is as evil as McCain. I think McConnell actually wants Conservatives to win. I can buy that McConnell may be mistaken and wrong; not sure that I can buy that he doesn’t love Conservativism and America.
The Bushes hated the base; not sure the rest of the GOP (other than McCain) did.
I have no proof, but I felt going into the Brandon vs Vallas runoff, with Let’s Go having all the muni unions backing that the cheating would go against Vallas …
The race was very close all day and miraculously Let’s Go Brandon pulled it out in the end ….. after the Brandons figured out how many more votes the Let’s Go side needed to win of course …. it’s a freaking miracle!
I do enjoy watching (D)’s screw over other (D)’s though …. we should ask Rod Blagojevich how it feels to get screwed over by the (D)’s.
Heh, Vallas lost to Blago too.
Trump coulda helped himself by coming out against her.
Ramaswamy gave an example – it’s not enough to get school choice, you also need control of the accrediting organizations, because the leftists are already there.
In which paper did you read that? The Sun-Times has been hard left for years…the subscription was canceled when our son was young because of the foul images they would put in the tabloid’s front page. The Tribune was bought by Alden Global Capital in 2021 who proceeded to slash and burn the newsroom. If you want to read about Chicago, read John Kass.
Vallas did not call himself a republican. He did an interview in 2009 with Carol Marin of the Sun-Times when he contemplated running for Cook County Board President, a position now held by Toni Preckwinkle, where he said he felt he had more in common with republicans than democrats. He never ran for the board. He has always run as a democrat. But he is what used to be considered a moderate democrat and that just will not do.
Which reporting is that? The issue in the Supreme Court race was that the republican didn’t try. If the issue was abortion, how did Ron Johnson get reelected?
The Republicans now hold a supermajority in the Wisconsin Senate as Dan Knodl won a special election in the Eighth District. But the brand is toxic. Alrighty then.
I don’t know that there is any hope for Chicago. Or New Orleans, or various other places of that ilk. NYC as well.
Toxic Relationship
Best of times/worst of times scenario. Yes, the brand is toxic (not just wrong) to half the voters. The other half plus one is more afraid of the other half than dissatisfied with Republicans.
It was the Sun-Times and the author went out of his way to point that by identifying as having something in common with Republicans he was essentially identifying as a Republican and that this was the kiss of death. I certainly don’t know Chicago politics but I suspect there is a huge stigma among many of the major constituencies in the city against ever voting for someone with an R by their name. In Wisconsin the reporting I have seen also described the opposition to everything Republican. I also heard the same thing you pointed out. He was lazy and an ineffective candidate. I guess my point is that there is a bigger problem here than bad candidates. We seem to fall back on that excuse too often. We also have to look at our messaging and our approach to politics.
You could substitute democrat for republican and have the same result, hence the notion of a national “divorce.”
Also, keep in mind that lots of people are voting with their feet – including yours truly, formerly a resident of Chicago for over a decade. Lots of Vallas voters left the city. Brandon Johnson was heavily backed by the Chicago Teacher’s Union, who have an insane turnout machine.
I am not sure the Republican Party is toxic in Michigan. I am sure the Republican Party in Michigan is incompetent , broke, and silent,
Same in Colorado.
I assume the “we” you are referencing is the Republican Party. It certainly won’t be the Democrats. However, the Republicans are doing very little, that I can see, to move that needle. In fact, with Trump’s support, Ronna McDaniel was just re-elected Chairperson of the RNC. Does anyone understand why Trump would support this person?
She must have said something nice about him.
She Trumped him! LOL.
The Democrats take over all the pretty places. The Republicans build them up, and then the Democrats sweep in and parasitically take control.
I don’t remember which states have done it other than Georgia, but I have seen a list of multiple states with Republican majorities that have changed their election laws to eliminate fraud, since the 2020 election.
This is Trump’s fatal flaw, criticism takes one off his list, plaudits puts one on his list. But the issue is truly not about him even though he makes it appear that way.
I was in the ninth grade when Barry Goldwater lost big in 1964 (I was an LBJ supporter then). Democrats also had over 2/3 majorities in both houses. I recall a Newsweek cover story after the election about whether the GOP was now dead and ready to go the way of the Whigs. Starting with Nixon in ’68 the GOP would win five of the next six elections.
We too easily forget that the secret weapon that both major parties possess is that the other party sucks and voters will turn on them eventually.
The weirdness in current politics is that the objectively disastrous consequences of Democratic rule is overlooked by many in favor of ideological identity politics. It is as if we are a nation of well-off financially dependent undergraduates who think that someone else (parents, “the rich”, the government, The Wizard of Oz…) will get the bill so who cares about costs. Wealthy brats can protest and demand pure quasi-magic outcomes (same lifestyle and comforts but without oil, free markets, jails…) and think themselves immune.
In the past, the young did not have the ideological enforcement mechanisms of social media and woke campus commissars. The tax bite on the first paycheck and getting robbed or burgled tended to be reality’s way of saying you are way the hell too leftward, my child, grow the hell up. Somehow that corrective is being blunted.