This could bode well for the Democrats.
The Trump wing of the Republican Party has been really successful at MAGAfying the Republican Party organizations at the state and local level, filling them with lying cheating grifters determined to get the Trumpiest candidates possible on the ballot for the House races.
They’ll lie and cheat in order to do so. They aren’t going to play fair, they are going to come down hard on mainstream Republicans in primary challenges.
This strategy is sure to put a lot of crazies in office in deep red districts, that’s inevitable.
But I’m hoping they overplay their hand in some of the more moderate districts and cheat their asses off to get crazies to the right of MTG on the ballot for they general, then campaign solely on the promise of restoring Trump to the office that is rightfully his.
This would have the effect of alienating the 15-20% of the Republicans that aren’t completely insane as well as energizing the Democrats……nothing drives Democrats to the polls like Trump’s insane dictator schtick. Think about how improbable the Democratic victory in the Georgia run-off would’ve been in normal times.
I believe that if Trump had petulantly acknowledged his loss, maybe outraging everyone by refusing to formally concede but not challenging the results- the Republicans would’ve won the Georgia run-off elections handily.
The voter suppression legislation is concerning, especially the redistricting shenanigans - but much of that has been going on for years — at least it’s front and center in the news and people know and care that it’s happening.
And sometimes people gain a new appreciation for something if you try to take it away from them.
That’s my very cautiously optimistic take.
I believe that if Trump never oozed down that escalator at Trump Tower, we’d have President Cruz, or, at best, President Bush or Rubio. But probably Cruz, the trend towards right-wing authoritarianism is worldwide and I’m not giving Trump credit for it.
And Trump had nothing to do with the packing of the judiciary and the suppression of voting rights, except to bray about it openly and take credit for it - he got the Democrats and the media all outraged about it.
Now it’s not happening quietly anymore and at least people are paying attention to it.
The worst thing that could happen to the Democrats, I think, would be for the Republicans to regain sanity, dump Trump, and begin grudgingly signing on to some bipartisan legislation while quietly and unobtrusively working to slowly erode voting rights and replace the judiciary. Then we’d have a normal midterm election with large Republican gains.
But that’s not going to happen. I’m not complacent - I’ve learned that lesson- but a year and a half ago it seemed really unlikely that the Democrats would be in as good of a place as they are now - we’ve scored some major victories in the past year.
Yes, we’ve always got to think ahead to the next fight, always…this isn’t a fight you win, it’s a fight you fight. But the Republicans are playing this head game to try to deprive us of our psychological victory lap, and I’m not letting them win it.
We Won! We have the House, the Senate and the Presidency! It was close but it still counts. Now, back to work……fearlessly.
It’s hard work, the tide of right wing authoritarianism is rising worldwide and it may not be stoppable. I know a lot of you will disagree, but I believe that Trump is making that fight easier than it would’ve been without him, not harder.
. I doubt it would work, in part because the hardcore racist white Republicans would probably stay home if it’s a race between two Black candidates.