For critics of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, his vote to arrest former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting U.S. Capitol unrest and followed immediately by the removal of Trump but simply naked hypocrisy.
Before explaining his vote – that a vice president is “constitutionally unworthy of condemnation” – McConnell tore into Trump and his role in the riot.
“There is no question that President Trump has a practical and moral responsibility to promote the events of that day,” McConnell said Saturday. “The actions of former President Trump who preceded the unrest were a desert. shameful, shameful. “
A deeper look at McConnell’s actions reveals a more progressive view: positioning the Republican Party – without direction and in the face of a strategic crisis – is a long-overdue game strategy. inside – for electoral success, although that is one that diminishes the party ‘s current outlook.
To be sure, McConnell was able to be “both ways”, as some critics have suggested, as he is best known for doing just that.
He doesn’t have to worry about indulging voter anger directly for his impeachment decision, having been re-elected to another six-year term last November. As the most elected Republican in the federal government, one of his jobs is to point out to other political donors and Republicans who were inspired by the events of January 6 that there is little hope for the party after Trump. And, perhaps more importantly, he doesn’t seem to care much about being a lightning rod among Republican voters against establishment, having gone away several times before.
Pro-Trump shield backlash
State and local Republican Party critics include those who voted to condemn or impeach Trump, a growing chorus of pro-Trump Republican voices that are unhappy with McConnell and that predicts his views as a responsibility for the party.
Calling McConnell’s speech “an outlier in how Republicans feel about all of this,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a strong Trump supporter, said the minority leader will be a baggage for Republican candidates in the middle of next year.
“He obviously got a load off the chest, but unfortunately he put a load on the Republican back,” Graham told Fox News Sunday. “That speech you see in the 2022 campaigns,” he said.
Graham went even further about his belief that Trump has been confirmed as the de facto leader of the GOP suggesting that Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is “the biggest winner” of the lawsuit. There is speculation that she is considering running to resign Republican Senator Richard Burr, vote for his conviction, and Graham suggested Burr vote to help her, should she decide to run.
“I think it represents the future of the Republican Party,” Graham said.
At this point, Graham may be on something.
Voting still shows that Trump is looking favorably with a very large number of Republicans. In an Economist-YouGov poll released last week, 87 percent of Republicans have a somewhat positive view of Trump, with 67 percent saying they have a very favorable view of it .
But McConnell knows full well that the party’s success doesn’t just lie on a solid foundation just for Trump.
Selective calculus
For Republicans to regain control of Congress, McConnell deeply understands the reasons for playing to that foundation.
He looked like two Republicans in Georgia’s state of war, under threat of primary school criticism, embraced Trumpism and went on to lose their runner-up elections last month, taking control the Senate for Democrats.
He has fond memories of the number of founding Republicans who lost 10 years ago to right-wing Tea Party opponents, just to see those opponents lose in the general election to the Democrats.
And he clearly sees all of that happening again if the undeveloped Trump is scrutinized and remains the focus of Republican primary schools next year and in a primary race. school 2024.
McConnell promises that Trump’s influence will be exacerbated by a combination of fan obesity, Trump’s lack of a megaphone, and ongoing legal issues that could shatter away his image among his supporters.
It also banks on trying the real situation for out-of-power parties: a united struggle with the party in power. Because Democrats have been able to target their inner fines with a laser focus on Trump as a villain, Republicans will find that they have more in common than not when it comes to opposition. Joe Biden as the new president makes his mark politically and with his policies.
“Biden gives Republicans enough ammo,” Republican strategist Scott Reed told The Wall Street Journal recently. “His continued lighthouse to the left of domestic policy is already creating a strong contrast for the midterm elections. “
But as McConnell sets himself and his party for the unifying focus against that Democratic Party, there will be many false-positive fights in the coming months – inspired by Trump and his supporters. strong support – fights to decide whether McConnell’s election gambit will be successful.
“I think there will be a real battle for the soul of the Republican Party and the beginning of the battle,” Republican Governor Larry Hogan, a frequent Trump critic, told NBC on Sunday. “And we’re going to determine whether or not we’re going to be a party that can win elections.”