Republicans have a serious choice to make
Well, at least we know the hapless House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has a sense of humor. At a joint news conference on Wednesday, McCarthy was asked whether the disgraced former president should be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). McCarthy said immediately, “Yes, he should.”
The reporter then asked Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who voted for impeachment and memorably declared last month, “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.” Cheney initially deflected. “That’s up to CPAC,” she said. Never a wallflower, however, she went on: “I’ve been clear on my views about President Trump and the extent to which, following Jan. 6, I don’t believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.” McCarthy glibly declared, “On that high note, thank you” and made a quick getaway. Awkward laughter followed.
The moment was a high note if you think parties should have standards, respect the Constitution, eschew political violence and accept election outcomes. Still, it leaves Cheney and a thin slice of Republicans in the House and Senate in a bit of a quandary.
From all appearances, the twice-impeached former president is the undisputed leader of the party. McCarthy and House GOP Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., went on bended knee to Mar-a-Lago. Polling shows the former president to be the overwhelming favorite candidate for 2024. What does a conscientious Republican do when her party, in response to a question as fundamental as “Should we have a traitorous instigator of political violence as our leader?,” answers affirmatively? This is not a difference over the top marginal tax rate or even over a hot-button issue such as abortion. It is a disagreement over whether to remain within the confines of American democracy.
Writing for the Bulwark, Never Trumper Amanda Carpenter observes that MAGA Republicans brook no dissent. “The institutional GOP is saying any anti-Trump speak is unwanted. Canceled,” she writes. “The few Republicans who dared to vote to impeach and convict Trump are being censured and primaried.” She offers four options for dissenting party members: 1) Retire from politics; 2) Come together to “forge an intraparty faction, pledging to withhold their support unless certain conditions are met, such as an acknowledgment that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen and a commitment that voting restrictions based on Trump’s big election lie not be enacted”; 3) Form a third party; or 4) “Align with moderate Democrats so long as the leadership of the GOP remains under Trump’s thumb.”
Retirement – or leaving D.C. for state office if the home-state crowd is saner – is a popular choice, but it means conceding defeat. The second option (conditional withdrawal) is not a true option, because the GOP will never formally acknowledge that Biden won fair and square and wouldn’t for a moment think about abandoning voter suppression – not when it is losing so many elections in red states! Besides, an intraparty group in practice means being part of a tiny, ineffective minority. Interest in a third party is historically high among Republicans, but mostly because they want a solidly MAGA party. And in any case, an anti-Trump third party would essentially be a protest movement unless the GOP’s fortunes collapse (always possible, but unlikely in the short-term.)
As for joining Democrats, hardened veterans of partisan politics might never bring themselves to align with moderate, pro-defense, incrementalist Democrats. But I am at a loss for why moderate Republicans such as Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois or Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska wouldn’t be perfectly comfortable in the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.
And for GOP voters, aligning with the Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wing of the Democratic Party to stand up against the Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wing seems morally sound and politically useful – if only to preserve the Union and prevent its descent into one extreme or the other.