Republicans have had a rough week. Their “red wave” that grew into a “red tsunami” before election day trickled down till it wasn’t even a puddle after the actual votes were counted.
Republicans lost enough Senate contests that they will still be in the minority. The GOP also failed in making any significant gains among the nation’s Governors. Add to that, Democrats did very well in state races adding to their state legislature numbers in many states.
On top of all that, after a week of vote counting, the only place where Republicans made any significant gains, in the House of Representatives, still hasn’t been settled in their favor. In fact, Democrats could conceivably hold onto the House. Even if they don’t, many experts are saying a GOP majority, with over 150 Trumpian election deniers, the ultra-right wing “Freedom Caucus,” and other rogue factions in the GOP, will make the body a nightmare to get anything done for Kevin McCarthy or whomever becomes the Speaker.
All of those failures came to light in a bizarre way when conservative Senator Bill Cassidy appeared on MTP this weekend.
MTP host Chuck Todd began to ask about the GOP’s rough week and pointed out that Republicans largely maintained “the same leadership” despite underperforming in the midterm elections.
Todd went on to name various people like Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and Donald Trump as “party leaders.” He then asked, “If there’s no change there, do you think that’s a problem for Republicans going forward?”
Cassidy’s answer, unprompted, was reminiscent of Christine O’Donnell’s famous line back in the 2010 Delaware election for Senator (vs Chris Coons).
“First, we’re not a cult,” Cassidy offered without any suggestion from Todd that they were. “We’re not like, OK, there’s one person who leads our party. If we have a sitting president, she or he will be the leader of our party.”
Of course, while MAGA or Trumpism isn’t a formal religion, more and more people have noticed the cultlike devotion to Trump from his “base” — especially after the failed coup attempt and violent insurrection on January 6, 2021.
What is also interesting is that Todd didn’t ask Cassidy about Trump exclusively. Cassidy was the one who zoomed instantly on the former President with his Christine O’Donnell like “we’re not a cult” declaration.
Check out the full video below, and below that the commercial Christine O’Donnell made in 2010 denying that she was a witch below that.
Cult or not, the GOP has some serious work to do before the 2024 election if they wish to remain competitive, or even relevant. Voters rejected Trump, the attempt to outlaw abortion rights in states or nationwide — and seemed to understand that the inflation woes that have hit their wallets is more due to global factors and corporate greed than anything President Biden can control.
Furthermore, voters, especially younger ones, seemed to appreciate things like student loan forgiveness from the POTUS while republicans badmouthed them repeatedly. Older voters, except in Florida, which seemed to be an outlier compared to much of the nation, told the GOP to stop any plans to mess with or even eliminate their Social Security and Medicare.
On crime, voters rejected the selective messaging about it being an exclusive “city” problem and preferred the Democrats approach with common sense reforms vs the GOP’s stubborn unfettered gun access stance.
Whether or not the GOP begins to give another look to their policies going forward remains to be seen. They also might want to consider cutting bait with the likes of Donald Trump, who has led the GOP around by the nose for the past six years, if Americans are to actually believe that they are not “a cult.”
