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Legacy GOP Exposed
Let’s take a look at the Republican Party’s last two nominees before Trump in 2016.
John McCain famously reneged on two signature issues the traditional base voters wanted, immigration reform “build the damn fence!”, McCain exclaimed when running for re-election to his Senate seat, and the repeal of Obamacare.
Much of the criticism, and even some of the outrage, was muted due to McCain’s illness (although he could have retired) but now that the official mourning period is over, and all the lamentations from Democrats have subsided, it’s time to revisit that treachery in light of the next nominee’s betrayal.
Forensic analysis of the 2008 McCain campaign suggests self-sabotage, and a cursory look back through the life of this man certainly bolsters that theory. Others speculated that McCain, never one to respect the conservative wing of the party, actually threw the fight, took a proverbial dive, and/or simply never cared enough to win.
Our 2012 nominee was ruthlessly attacked and mocked by Democrats, and every Republican defended him without fail.
Sure, his conservative record was a bit spotty (to say the least), but he was adept at explaining conservative ideas. In those days, influential Republican pundits, well-schooled in conservative thought, emphasized rational debate as the primary method to win over engaged Democrats and Independents. Of course, using the hammer/nail analogy, if you’re a scholar in conservative thought, everyone looks like a student. Weekly Standard and National Review readers were in the distinct minority, but Jennifer Rubin was widely read in the Washington Post, Mona Charen had a column in USA Today, and Ross and David graced the pages of the New York Times. The other method proposed was pandering to the millions of Hispanics for whom the party had willingly left the back door open to appease their donors.
To many, Romney was an icon of upstanding morals, a graceful decent man who would certainly fulfill the role of President-as-Prince so many conservatives longed for. He wouldn’t get October surprised by the media. Not this guy!
Having lost the culture war, many Republicans desperately longed for a virtuous avatar in the White House to role-model America back into being decent, traditional, moral, family-oriented wholesome people. The slogan could have been, Make America(ns) Good Again.
Now in retrospect, we see yet another man who rose to the pinnacle of Republicandom going squarely against the voters and other elected Republicans. In all of Congress, every Republican representative in the House voted against impeachment, and every Republican Senator, including several historical fence-sitters (Collins, Murkowski, Alexander) voted for acquittal, except one Mitt Romney. The Senator from Utah apparently has a uniquely brilliant rationale for his vote other Republicans, including most Utahans he purports to represent, cannot see.
This legal insight is so important that Romney is willing to be the lone dissenter among every elected Republican and side with Democrats.
This is exactly what John McCain did in signaling thumbs down as a deciding vote on the signature Republican issue.
This is now the legacy of the two previous Republican presidential nominees. In the meantime, it’s fair to ask what has become of ex-Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner. Denny Hastert?
Obviously there was, and still is, something horribly wrong inside the Republican Party. It can’t be more obvious.
Published in General
It is striking how the last two nominees didn’t truly support conservative ideas and worked against the guy implementing them. Good post.
Remember the wisdom/catch phrase of Billy Crystal’s “Fernando” character? “It is better to look marvelous than to feel marvelous.”
Translation: Appearances are more important than reality.
The Legacy GOP bought into that philosophy hook, line, and sinker. Maybe the whole country has, even.
And what did we get in return for our party loyalty? A disloyal Republican who put self above truth and party loyalty by not defending a clearly innocent man. I hope he’s a one-term reject . . .
Good point, Franco. I bitterly regret my former support of Romney and McCain both. In truth, they would have been worse than the Democrat, because they would have deeply compromised and corrupted the Republican Party from within.
That’s what I thought Trump would do. I was a Never-Trumper in 2016, because I thought even if he managed to get elected (which I couldn’t imagine), he would veer left in office and destroy the Republican Party.
I had it exactly backwards.
I’m thrilled that events have proved me wrong.
PS: I tried to send Romney’s office a protest email immediately following his vote yesterday. His site was “temporarily suspended for repairs.” LOL
Thinking back, the GOP has shown poor leadership and poor vision since the collapse of the USSR. The party leadership has only shown strength in stopping grassroots uprisings. I see the DNC is very good at picking candidates for swing districts with crossover appeal. I think the idea of parties as branding and organizing agents is very powerful, but I don’t see evidence that the GOP is good at those things. Instead, we have RINOs that protect the deep state and revel in being all mavericky. Hopefully we can use the human-hammer of Donald Trump to reshape the GOP into a functional organization.
I wanted to include a few paragraphs about what is it about being a Senator, that is so special that millionaires and billionaires and failed Presidential candidates crave? There’s not much power. Maybe a little bit of government skid-greasing, and it’s not a demanding job exactly (except dealing with those pesky constituents)
But there are Senators on their last breaths who could retire to their 5 houses, see their grandchildren play lacrosse or whatever and enjoy life. But nooooo. And truly, it is not as though they possess unique skills and can’t be replaced by the next phony politician.
And then these people have the gall to proclaim themselves government “servants” sacrificing their time and treasure for our sakes.
Bread sandwiches. Both of ’em.
They’re installing a bigger inbox . . .
“I’d kick their Rino butts up and down the court.” – Wilt Chamberlain (@wiltchamberlain)
I readily admit, I got the idea for this post from that very tweet.
Ive been lurking on Twitter recently but I have no posts and no followers. I’m very reticent to join the fray, but it’s more enjoyable than I thought it would be.
It’s the committees and pork distribution valves I imagine.
Is foreign trade all money laundering ?The in group gets fabulously wealthy ?
What about inside info ?
I believe the entire city needs to be burned to the ground. Then spread all gov offices across America to keep the hive from reforming.
I’m sure they are working on K street or on the boards of some big companies.
And I, for one, am very glad that they only have their grubby little, corrupt hands on “pork distribution valves” and NOT on “pork valve distribution.” (I have the scar to prove it.) But that is just a matter of time…
Exactly so. I held my nose and voted for McCain and the rest of the Republican candidates in AZ one election cycle after another. I voted for Romney in the 2012 general election. They did not deserve my support and gave Republican voters the back of their hands when the choice was expressing their wounded ego, their blind hatred of their own great white whale, or behaving honorably.
You, me and quite a few others.
The Never-Trumpers need to stop, think and visualize a particular what-if scenario: What if we had nominated John Kasich instead?
Not sure about Ryan but Boehner has gotten involved in the drug trade and chairs the National Cannabis Roundtable. Don’t drink the bong water, John.
This is the part I don’t get. Most of these guys and gals are wealthy, Romney in particular. They don’t need any more money; they can’t even begin to spend what they have and neither can their heirs & assigns. Why do they sell their honor so cheaply?
I made that original post on a phone.
I meant to say : Foreign Aid, but trade works too.
I think they’d have been fine with that. Swamp creatures love their fellow swamp creatures, regardless of party. They are “Swamp First Republicans!”
It’s the lure of having that pull. People fawn over them, indulge them. It is the unearned glory of a position meant for service. And the histrionics are the result of believing the praise and adoration, but yet somehow not getting their way.
Definitely true for some, but some NT’s had previously been critical of squishy Republicans. National Review liked Rick Santorum and heavily promoted Ted Cruz. Even George Will attacked both Bushes when they would swing left.
The Never Trump movement got started because people (myself included) thought Trump was a lefty. Today’s NT’s are the ones that got stuck that way, even after Trump turned out to be a conservative.
You can’t get anyone to explain in plain English how John McCain moved things in a more conservative or libertarian direction. Try it.
What is Romney’s ideology? If you’re that wealthy you don’t have to worry about anything but your ideology, but what is it?
Ben Sasse has evaporated. I listened to him very closely, and I am underwhelmed in a similar way.
Joe Scarborough and the political consultants on MSNBC.
Look at what Jeff Flake had to do for his TV contract.
I’ll take Trump.
I’ve heard rumors that Paul Ryan and John Boehner have been attending Denny Hastert’s Wrestling Camp.
I notice that that never Trump group, Principles First, loves Romney. Steve Deace would shred those guys.
Not to be mistaken for “Profiles in Corruption” by Peter Schweitzer.
I think this last flip means he’s permanently flopped.