I don’t know when the liberal media started believing that conservatives ever wanted their advice. Yet, curiously, they still offer it, pretending like they actually care about the Republican Party’s success in Washington.
On Thursday, TIME magazine published an article warning that the Republican Party “has a plan to alienate every swing voter in America,” and trust me, this is wishful thinking at its best. I’m quite certain I’ve seen these types of columns before. They merely serve as some not-to-subtle messaging that Republicans are too extreme for mainstream America.
The article, written by Philip Elliott, seems intent on presenting Republican positions as mainstream without actually offering any evidence for it. Elliott cites House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s demand for spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling—even though a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 60% of Americans believe that the government is currently spending too much.
Elliott then notes that House Republicans recently gathered in Lower Manhattan, “employing dodgy crime stats at a show trial-esque hearing aimed at discrediting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting Donald Trump’s fraud case.”
Hold on a second. Am I the only one who missed the memo that highlighting the skyrocketing crime rates under Bragg’s leadership is somehow dishonest? I always thought it was a legitimate concern, especially considering the victims and families of victims who testified before Congress about how Bragg’s soft-on-crime policies have emboldened criminals and made the city less safe. Meanwhile, Elliott ignores the fact that most Americans believe the indictment of Trump was political—and Trump’s poll numbers have improved, even in general election match-ups, since the indictment.
And then Elliott moves on to DeSantis, who he claims is “tone-deaf” for signing a six-week ban on abortion. Elliott must have forgotten the fact that a majority of Floridians support the ban, and more than half of registered voters do not consider laws prohibiting abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy to be overly restrictive, according to a 2019 Hill-HarrisX poll.
But the level of absurdity reaches new heights when Elliott criticizes Republicans for preventing the Democrats from appointing a temporary replacement for Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would enable them to promote radical left-wing judges. Can you believe that? Does Elliott really think that Democrats would allow Republicans to do the same thing if the tables were turned? Come on, let’s get real here.
“Put plainly, Republicans from Washington, D.C. to Tallahassee seem to be chasing political duds in order to placate the party’s fringes,” Elliott concludes. “It may feel good to go on cable and insinuate Biden is senile or criminal, and the party’s hacks may giggle. But that’s not a formula to win over swing voters who are watching from afar and just hoping Washington can remember that there are real people with real interests that need some real tending.”
Elliott clearly hasn’t noticed the variety of polls showing Americans think Biden is too old to be president or that Americans support the investigation of Hunter Biden—including Democrats. Why should facts get in the way of Elliott’s advice for Republicans to be more “mainstream” and electable?
I’m curious–what does Elliott think is the magic recipe for winning over swing voters? Is it defunding the police? Allowing men to participate in women’s sports teams? Letting men into girls’ restrooms and locker rooms? Abortion on demand up until the moment of birth?
Let’s be real, folks. I know we’re used to the mainstream media dishing out insincere “advice” to Republicans, but come on, it’s 2023–whom do they think they’re fooling?
