Last Friday, the Washington, D.C., Republican party made it clear that it has no interest whatsoever in the concerns of Republican voters outside of the Beltway.
The reelection of Ronna Romney McDaniel as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) was the establishment GOP’s none-too-subtle way of giving the finger to a Republican base that struggles more and more for reasons to stick with the party. It was also a clear indication that the Capitol Hill Club Republicans don’t give a damn about winning another election. As long as they still get invitations to D.C. parties and happy hours while the United States is speeding toward socialist Hell, they’re content.
Ronna McDaniel’s first three terms in charge of the RNC were — put very mildly — an unmitigated disaster. She’s so awful at her job that, if she were an NFL coach, she’d be fired a third of the way into the season. As I have written on a couple of occasions, if she were a decent human being with any sense of shame, she would have resigned after the disastrous Red Trickle of 2022.
But she’s a Romney, so she has infantile attention needs just like her Uncle Willard.
A sane observer would say, “There’s no way they give the reins to this woman for a fourth term.” Sanity and the national GOP don’t bump into each other very often though, as evidenced by how easily McDaniel won reelection. Establishment Republicans have an almost sexual fetish for the status quo, which is one of the reasons that last month’s battle royale for the speaker’s gavel was so novel and interesting.
The Republican Party is now faced with heading into the most important presidential election since perhaps the American Civil War as a dysfunctional family. The Republican voters in real America are estranged from the string-pullers in Washington, specifically the RNC. McDaniel’s mere presence will guarantee that remains the case throughout the next two years.
A lot of people will say, “Who cares about the RNC? I never give them money anyway.”
Candidates care.
Yes, it’s best to give directly to candidates you support, but the role of the RNC is still important. It can coordinate significant resources for critical races as needed. It’s important that someone savvy and competent be in charge, not someone who merely wants to hear the sound of her own voice accompanied by music from Nero’s fiddle.
The RNC won’t have any difficulty raising money during McDaniel’s fourth term. The old school big money donors will more than offset any funds that are withheld by those of us out here in the hinterlands. Of course, that money will not be spent as wisely as it should be while Mittens’s niece is still in charge.
I waited almost a week to write this column because I was too irritated when I got the news of the RNC’s folly in reelecting McDaniel. I don’t get worked up about much when it comes to politics anymore, but this one made me want to bang my head against the wall a few times.
Now that I’ve had a few days to think about it, I may have found a silver lining.
More people than usual paid attention to this last RNC leadership election. Heck, I get paid to write about politics and I barely give them any thought. While I haven’t done any formal research, social media and the emails I’ve gotten from readers indicate that Republicans in real America are not at all happy with McDaniel getting another shot after mucking up the previous three election cycles.
Perhaps the reinforcement of the fact that the D.C. Republican Party will never have the backs of the American Republican Party will inspire some people to get involved more directly with candidates. There is so much at stake in the next presidential election that I can see people coming off of the sidelines because they know that no reinforcements from the House of Ronna are on their way.
Just a thought.
No amount of couples therapy is going to help the estrangement between the RNC and the base. It’s permanent. Fortunately, Republicans are quite used to having to fight other Republicans before they can get around to battling the Democrats, and I’m not talking about primary elections here.
My political fantasy is that one day they won’t have to.
Yeah, I drink.
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