Going into the midterm elections, the Democrats proclaimed a blue wave would sweep the nation. We got a ripple, not a tsunami, but the damage was done. We lost the House. Today, Republicans are concerned about the impact the shutdown, the Mueller investigation and more will have on their re-elections. So they are taking steps to stem the tide and prevent the Senate and the Oval Office from falling into the hands of the liberals.
According to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), an “incumbent should run in one of two ways: scared or unopposed.” After the near debacle of the Cruz-O’Rourke race, that means being prepared. The first step is firing up his re-election bid, the earliest he’s done so since 2002.
Cornyn has called Cruz’s near loss and the Democratic Party push in the midterm elections a “confluence of events” that served as a ‘wake-up call’.”
It is a wake-up call every Republican incumbent should heed. It is a call Texas Republicans are taking seriously. According to Sen. Cornyn and Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey, “The challenges we face in Texas are very real.” More importantly, not only are they worried about Texas incumbents losing in 2020, they are concerned about the potential of a Trump loss in the state. If that were to happen, it would be the first time in 44 years a Republican presidential candidate lost the state.
In order to prevent that from happening, Dickey, Cornyn and others are urging Trump and the RNC to follow the lead of the DNC in the mid-terms. Then we saw hundreds of thousands of out-of-state dollars coming into the state to help finance the campaigns of liberal candidates. Sen. Ted Cruz came very close to losing his seat to Beto O’Rourke, who benefited not only from the DNC’s money but from major media attention from the Hollywood set. For four decades, the state party hasn’t needed that sort of help. Now, fear of the blue ripple turning into a wave is real and the additional funds are necessary, especially if we continue seeing the Democrats doing all they can to tear down not only the President but our basic civil rights.
According to The Washington Examiner, Dickey “delivered this message to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, GOP donors, and activists in the state.” This is necessary because the Dems (or maybe I should say ‘Dims’) have already started making noises about linking Cornyn with Trump, who is also up for re-election in 2020. Doing so, they hope, will drive independent voters away from the senator and into their waiting arms.
The mid-terms should be a wake-up call for all Republicans across the country. Hell, it should be for all independents and those few Democrats who still consider themselves true moderates. All you have to do is look at the list of Democratic candidates who have already announced their candidacy for president. Kamala Harris has called for the end of private health care insurance. Elizabeth Warren has called for a wealth tax that the Washington Post calls a “good way to run a campaign” even if it isn’t a good way to run a government. Then there’s Joe “Hands” Biden who should be the poster boy for the #MeToo! movement but isn’t. Hell, even Hillary is making noises–still–about possibly running again. And let’s not forget the skateboarding wunderkind, Beto O’Rourke who has yet to say if he’s tossing his ball cap in or not.
What this means is there is excitement surrounding some of the Democratic candidates. According to a recent poll, Trump is vulnerable and could lose the election. Of course, there is a bright spot. (Isn’t there always when it comes to polls?)
56 percent of self-identified Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents did not offer a name. No candidate received double-digit support, with former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) leading the pack.”
Both candidates have their weaknesses but so, unfortunately, does Trump.
If there is a bright spot in all this, it is that the Democratic Party is far from united. As we’ve blogged about before, Nancy Pelosi had to compromise with fellow Democrats in order to return to her role as Speaker of the House. To fight back against the continuing anti-Israel bias that has been permeating their party, prominent Dems have formed their own pro-Israel group. The DNC worries Howard Schultz’s independent run for president will be their own version of the H. Ross Perot candidacy and cost their party the Oval Office. (Please let it be so!)
Then there is the “new girl on the block” who never met a social media venue she didn’t love, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She surprised the Old Guard by defeating the Democratic incumbent. She has been very vocal in declaring her socialist agenda. While conservatives love pointing and laughing, she has her fellow Democrats worried. In fact, they are so worried, some have started talking about making sure she has a primary challenger when she comes up for re-election.
The list goes on and that inner-party conflict can work to our advantage, but only if we don’t get complacent–and that’s what we were in the last election. Too many assumed Trump would once again carry the day for the party. We forgot mid-term election turnouts historically don’t bring out as many voters. We forgot the party in the Oval Office almost always loses ground.
In short, we got cocky and we lost the House. It could have been worse. Let’s not make the same mistake.
Take Senator Cornyn’s words to heart:
[A]n incumbent should run in one of two ways: scared or unopposed.”
The corollary to that is voters should be determined to help re-elect conservative incumbents and vote out liberal ones. Unless and incumbent is unopposed, their seat is in danger. We’ve seen how far the Democrats will go to destroy President Trump. Mueller has been “investigating” the Trump campaign, the President, his friends, family, aides and who knows who else since May 2017. This is the same investigation where the scope keeps expanding instead of focusing on a target. Why? Because Mueller hasn’t been able to find enough to go after Trump and he isn’t going to stop until he does–or until the President or the DOJ finally pulls the plug on it.
In the meantime, the RNC must focus on more than the usual races and states. It needs to learn from near losses like the Cruz-O’Rourke race and from those losses it hadn’t anticipated. Hopefully, it will do just that and the three-ring circus that is the Democratic Party will continue.
Who knows what will happen as 202o nears and more candidates declare for office?
Featured image by TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay under Pixabay license.
George V says: I’ll venture that we’ll have Dem president, and Dem House and Senate. They’re gonna pull out all the stops. Media will shape the dialogue – that anyone not in favor of socialist economy, universal healthcare, free college and pre-school, and all things green is not on the “right side of history”. Fear of missing out and being one of the “wrong” people will push enough mushy-middle voters into the Dem side. Keep in mind most energetic younger voters will vote Dem – they’ve been indoctrinated into having the correct thought processes by the Party Idealogues – their college professors. And those youngsters want to make change – it’s always a good thing, right?? Don’t want to be like those stuffy old people.
Republicans will pull themselves apart (again!). In addition, the Republican party could not sell air-conditioners in the Florida Keys. Even if the Repubs could come together around a mythical party-unifying candidate they would start to mumble and stumble and walk back arguments when confronted by any Dem talking point.
My money is on a Kamala Harris/Robert O’Rourke ticket. She’s Barack Obama with an additional progressive virtue attribute of female. He brings the Bachelor vibe, plus he’s convinced everyone he’s really Hispanic for additional virtue points. He’s actually Irish and Welsh extraction according to Wikipedia.
The rest of us, and the nation – we are toast.
Amanda Green says: I worry that you’re right. However, I’m not so sure about either Harris or O’Rourke. Harris has a lot of baggage that is already starting to be trotted out. As for O’Rourke, all it would take is someone actually looking at his history as a councilman in El Paso to poke holes in his narrative–something Cruz should have done long, loud and hard.
Bitter Resistance says: I do hope that your chillingly convincing scenario turns out to be as wrong as a three-dollar bill. -_-
Amanda Green says: Fingers crossed.
I don’t know about Harris-O’Rourke, but I think George V’s general scenario is plausible. One grave danger is the GOP itself. I suspect a number of party poohbahs are contemplating replacing President Trump. John Kasich obviously does, so do Mitt, Jeff Flake, Ben Sasse, maybe Jeb!, and no doubt others.
America would not survive a Democrat sweep of Congress and Presidency; the empowerment of the Dems’ radicalism and ruthlessness would be followed by I’m-not-sure-what, but it would be a catastrophe.
Amanda Green says: I know. The only hope we have is that the Dems continue to self-destruct, not just within the party itself but in the public eye. It would help if they didn’t control the media.
Do you think that the country might wake up in the face of all the dimms craziness? It shouldn’t take too much reasoning power, even for the “children”, to see through all the smoke and mirrors. What the dimms want is so much against everything this country has ever stood for, or are we just too tired, after the Cold War, and just want to lay down and go to sleep.
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