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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
I for one am on the edge of my seat!
What if Kari Lake throws her hat in the ring?
Sorry, but Trump’s sour-grapes politics pales compared to yours.
But…
You and “Spin” disagreed with the above proposition. You lost 56:2.
Holding a barf bag.
This.
Equity means dragging everybody down to the level of the worst performer.
I remember it as occurring during a primary debate with Hillary. Charlie Gibson pointed out that raising the tax rates on the rich would actually decrease government revenue, to which Obama responded with the “fairness” claim. Of course, Democrats want government to have all our money, so it was a big fat lie meant to make him seem concerned with “fairness.”
In the general election, didn’t Mitch provide more support than Trump? Trump used them in the primaries to take out Republicans he didn’t like, but once it got to the general election, Trump didn’t actually care if they beat the democrat. Trump had plenty of money he could have dumped into the general election, but he didn’t. They were just tools to take out Trump’s perceived enemies in the primary. Trump is just about Trump.
You’re thinking of this exchange. That should have been the end of Obama’s campaign right there. Of course, it wasn’t.
https://taxfoundation.org/obama-and-gibson-capital-gains-tax-exchange/
This is . . . er, what’s the term you always throw around? A “lie by omission.”
You were donating to Katie Hobbs’ campaign a full 14 months before Kari Lake won the primary. You were already a Hobbs supporter for more than a year.
Why?
Well, there’s some false witness.
Chris Christie Drops the Hammer on Trump’s 2024 Chances: ‘The Only Republican Biden Can Beat’ (msn.com)
I can’t be the only person who is sick of this bloated a–hole, can I?
The headline should read “Chris Christie Grasps at Relevance Again.”
I was tired of him all oer again as soon as he broke ground for this season.
https://ricochet.com/1090656/donald-trump-wins-first-debate-with-chris-christie-hosted-by-peter-robinson/
Chris Christie bunted on gay marriage, punted on abortion, and is running against Trump on China. Who says he’s no good at sports?
It’s probably pretty hard for a Republican New Jerseyite to be anything other than a RINO, but this blowhard is RINOier than most.
It is fun to watch him try to lose weight every four years.
The problem is, even when he drops 50 pound it’s hard to tell when the dude is starting off tipping the scales at over 4 hundy.
You mock, but what about that fabulous beach bod he was rocking in ’17?
He’s got the perfect beach body. If “beach ball” is the goal.
Too many to good ones to choose one …. so a posted a few of them: