The Morning Briefing: Should the GOP Hit the Panic Button About November?

Top O’ the Briefing

Happy Thursday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Seth was just beginning to realize that “popcorn and boxers” probably wasn’t the best way to describe his perfect evening on dating sites.

Tuesday night was a great one for conservative Republicans, of course. Getting rid of the last of the Bush/Cheney infestation in the GOP was long overdue. As Matt wrote, the impeachment turncoat Republicans are almost all gone now.

Good times all around, right?

On Wednesday, news of the Democrats taking a slight lead on the RealClearPolitics generic ballot hit, and suddenly there were clouds of consternation where there had been nothing but sunshine the day before.

Matt wrote a VIP post that says this little blue bump won’t last, and I tend to agree with him.

Kevin runs down a list of what’s got the Dems feeling chipper, but he also offers some suggestions as to what the GOP should be countering with, and countering quickly.

Anybody who reads the Briefing or my columns knows that I’ve had mixed emotions about what might happen in November. I’ve not been shy with my speculation about ways that the GOP might find to screw everything up. But for a quick moment after the Biden Stasi raid on Mar-a-Lago, I was not at all optimistic about the Republicans regaining control of the Senate.

Even my hard heart has been softening in recent months about the party’s chances of winning back control of the House. I’ve evolved from agonizing about how the GOP might blow it all to thinking that we’re in rarefied political air this year because Biden is such a trainwreck and that even they couldn’t muck this one up.

I’m still mostly there. Curmudgeonly but there.

I can’t really see anything that the coastal Democrats have been celebrating in recent weeks bringing a smile to faces in flyover country. Gas prices may be down a bit, but they’re still high. They aren’t going to crater before November. And, as I noted in my recent “Worst of Times” column, even Biden apologist Paul Krugman says that inflation is here to stay a while.

Republican House candidates don’t need to start making unforced errors now just because they think that the expected red wave won’t be making it to the beach in November. We all know polls are often garbage (2016, anyone?), yet most people still overreact to them.

Keep calm, campaign on, and Granny Boxwine will be giving up her gavel in January.

Everything Isn’t Awful

These teenagers in Georgia were on their way to school when they saw a 50-year old woman get into a fiery car crash.

They ran to the vehicle, pried open the door, and pulled her out — just moments before the car burst into flames.

Heroes. pic.twitter.com/mQIBtbidXk

— Goodable (@Goodable) August 17, 2022

Smells Like Onion

Report: U.S. Still Leads World With Highest Density Of Kevins https://t.co/DdmIwSCdjY pic.twitter.com/GvAah5vmMR

— The Onion (@TheOnion) August 17, 2022