After having a couple of nights to sleep on it, I have decided that the current GOP drama in the House of Representatives is more of an opportunity than a harbinger of doom for the 2024 presidential election. Actually, I came to that conclusion after one night of sleep, but I’m just getting around to writing about it after two.
If handled correctly, turmoil can lead to opportunity. I view what’s going on with House Republicans as turmoil, not chaos. Yes, I called it a dumpster fire in a recent Morning Briefing headline, but that’s just my process. I briefly lean into the existential dread, get it out of my system, then start looking for silver linings and diamonds in the pile of horse you-know-what.
I highly recommend it.
Infighting is nothing new to the Grand Old Party. In fact, there are times when it seems like a prerequisite to getting anything done. As I have pointed out many times, Republicans aren’t a hive mind collective like the Democrats, and that will always be a feature, not a bug. While I’m hardly a big fan of the GOP these days, I’m glad to see a break from the Uniparty mold, which is what this current state of affairs in the House is. If we ever see the GOP in Washington linking arms and humming in unison, the Uniparty’s victory will be complete.
After the way he was elected last January, I don’t think that there was a Republican alive who thought that the Kevin McCarthy experiment was long for this world. I’m inclined to believe that McCarthy made the deal with the Democrats last weekend because he knew that too, and just wanted to rip the band-aid off.
The election for a new speaker next week will almost certainly be less eventful than January’s reenactment of “The Jerry Springer Show.” That alone will tamp down the “OMG CHAOS!” nonsense in the MSM. They’ll immediately have to transition to explaining why either Steve Scalise or Jim Jordan is the junior MAGA antichrist, surpassed in evil only by ORANGE MAN BAD. If either one of those men do end up with the gavel, the Dems will be running for the Prilosec.
Where I really think that this past week or so helps the GOP is in some general toughening up before next year’s election.
The 2024 presidential election will see the Soviet-inspired Democrats doing everything they can to game it, even more so than in the past. The Republicans are going to be assailed on all sides: vote-by-mail, media censorship, and Biden’s thug Justice Department are just a few of the things that every Republican on the ballot is going to have to deal with next year. All of those are a problem now, but, trust me, the Dems haven’t even gotten started yet.
Thick skin and the fortitude to resist giving into the Democrats on anything will be absolutely essential if the GOP is going to avoid being sent to forever wander in the political desert. Think of what happened in the House this week as an exhausting, but necessary sparring session.
This would be a very good time for Republicans in the Senate to decide that maybe they should be more like their rowdier counterparts in the other chamber, if only for one election cycle. Mitch McConnell can leave his lips firmly planted on the Democrats’ backsides, but every other Senate Republican should decide that the House GOP is setting a good example rather than offering a blueprint for how not to do things. Throw comity in the toilet and lace up your gloves–it’s time to go 15 rounds.
Relevant: I’m Endorsing ‘Generic Republican’ for President in 2024
There are going to be more trials for the GOP as this election cycle moves forward. The primary season is going to end up looking like the Red Wedding from “Game of Thrones.” Things are already extremely snippy between the MAGA and non-MAGA factions. Heck, it’s nasty out there even for those of us who very publicly state that we’ll vote for whomever the eventual Republican nominee is. You should see some of the emails I get.
Everyone on the Right should fight it out amongst ourselves now and — as I said earlier — get it out of our systems. When it’s done, we don’t need to be best friends. We just need to be on the same page for about a month next year.
Or however long Election Night takes.
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