The GOP Has a Big Ego Problem
It has always been a marvel how the Democrats pull together. They may fight among themselves, but they see themselves as change agents. They tend to subdue their differences and work for long-term goals of bringing socialism to America. It has been a 70-year project and they are winning.
More than 50 years ago when I was active in conservative campus politics, getting conservatives and, even worse, libertarians, to get anything done was almost impossible. It seemed like everyone wanted to do it their way. It may be a shop-worn phrase, but it is completely applicable. Conservatives are like herding cats.
Perhaps the difference is that Democrats and progressives are collectivist by nature, and therefore following the group is easier for them. Conservatives tend to admire individualism and like to be contrary. However, disproportionately conservatives have served in the military, and there, they seem to have no problem understanding discipline. In a war, it is necessary.
Why is this important?
While polling data is sketchy and still controlled largely by corporate media which can shade the way questions are phrased and the data subsequentially interpreted, it appears that despite widespread disdain for Biden, the coming election may not be a red wave at all. Local races do not seem to attach themselves well to national discontent.
One side suggests that Trump supporters, which have largely taken over the party in some states, have put forth an inferior slate of candidates. Much of the blame for this is blamed on Trump himself, who injected himself into the primary process and thereby allowing reflexive loyalties to short circuit the selection process. We expressed concern about this ourselves.
Trump in a sense does not help either. My phone is constantly pinging with messages such as “the Establishment hates Trump. They raided his home!”
It is not that these contentions are not true. They are. But it is all about HIM. It is all about Trump, what he is saying, what he is doing, and what is being done to him. If the MAGA movement is going to succeed, it has to be more than being about just Trump. It is going to have to be about issues, principles, and about solutions.
The American people are looking for common sense solutions. The Democrats are wrecking the country, our liberty, and our standard of living. Not much is required of conservatives other than appearing reasonable.
Others contend it is the views of the new crop of candidates. Buying heavily into criticism from leftist media outlets like the New York Times, some Republicans see their fellow party members as fringe or nutty on most issues. Nutty for them means questioning election results and procedures.
Also, big business is getting comfortable with crony capitalism, and much of the Chamber of Commerce type of Republican now feels more comfortable with Democrat policies. It is no longer just defense contractors. It is healthcare monopolies, auto companies, social media monopolies, and utilities that get huge amounts of taxpayer dollars. They like the cheap labor from illegal immigration and they like trading with the Chinese, even when their client or manufacturing partner runs concentration camps and kills their own people for organ harvesting. They happily do this with a high ESG score.
Interestingly, most of these critics don’t see the border as an issue, don’t understand the threat of Red China, don’t care much about the deficit, and can’t muster much opposition to wokeness.
Many of the MAGA candidates are attractive, and unlike much of the party establishment that gave us McCain and Romney, these candidates are willing to fight. And it is worth pointing out, that many of these “inferior candidates” were chosen fairly in primary elections.
It would seem the Never-Trumpers have a problem with projection. While accusing Trump of making it all about him, they want to make the race all about them. Can we really say that Trump’s ego is worse than say Liz Cheney’s? Reportedly, after taking a thunderous loss among her constituents in Wyoming, she is already out raising money to run for a presidential run. She wants to run against election deniers. Does that mean she will run against every Democrat that questioned 2016?
Or how about the ego of Mitch McConnell?
The goal should be to elect as a conservative candidates as possible. And if the conservative candidate does not dot every i and crosses every t for you, suck it up and support the conservative who was chosen. You had your shot in the primary and lost.
But we can’t win if a substantial part of the party does not see the validity in the choices made by voters in a primary election. It seems that some individuals who see a constant “danger to our democracy” haven’t noticed that MAGA candidates were chosen in the democratic process. Who is the danger to democracy here?
For example, in the Arizona gubernatorial race, Kari Lake was outspent 5 to 1, yet she won every county in the state.
She is the party choice. Whatever nuanced differences one may have with her, she is an attractive, articulate, conservative candidate. Bury your differences and get behind her or you are going to get the radical progressive Democrat in the name of Katie Hobbs.
The same can be said about Blake Masters. Not only is the state in play with this choice, but so is control of the U.S. Senate.
It is clear that conservatives and Republicans need to grow up. The differences among us are minor compared to the threat posed by the Democrats, who now have been captured almost entirely by the radical left.
It is time to dig into your pockets and put your money where your mouth is. It is also time to volunteer and get to work to be sure this window of national discontent is not blown by petty intra-party feuds and oversized egos.
Yes, Trump has an oversized ego. It is doubtful that as an outsider, he could have achieved what he did without it. But most of his opponents also have oversized egos. Importantly though, this race is not directly about Trump – it is about the advancing candidates for state and national positions against an extremely well-funded and cunning opposition.
We don’t have the media, the universities, professional philanthropy, Hollywood, or the big corporations on our side. All we have is each other. It is time to circle the wagons and fight. We lose not because of the Democrats but because we couldn’t pull together.