Kinzinger still on the anti-Trump warpath, but GOP ‘tribes’ appear arrayed against him
The good news for Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger is that fundraising for the political action committee he’s organized to reclaim his Republican Party from the soulless grasp of former President Donald Trump is going well.
As the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reported, Kinzinger’s “Country First” PAC has raised $1.1 million since launching in late January. That’s the same amount his congressional campaign fund raised (roughly three times his haul over the same months in the previous two campaign cycles).
“There were a lot of people that questioned whether or not somebody taking a stand for truth, telling the truth, going against kind of the emotional grain of the moment could survive,” Kinzinger told reporters. “And, you know, obviously it’s gonna be a continuing difficult fight and battle. But if the first quarter is any indication, it’s very solid.”
In the online video that launched Country First, Kinzinger, 43, of Channahon, said, “The Republican Party has lost its way. If we are to lead again, we need to muster the courage to remember who we are. We need to remember what we believe and why we believe it … It’s time to turn back from the edge of darkness and return to the ideals that have long been our guiding light.”
Though Kinzinger’s political positions differ strongly from mine, my column on the initiative praised him for the effort to reclaim the principled conservatism with which it is a pleasure and an honor to disagree.
The bad news for Kinzinger is that a recent national survey of more than 1,200 Republican voters found that only 15% fall into the “Never Trump” category.
The survey, conducted by Fabrizio, Lee and Associates, a Republican polling firm, and released in March, sorted the GOP into five “tribes,” four of which are populated by Trump fans.
The “Diehard Trumpers” tribe makes up 27% of the party, the survey found.
Members of this group said they “believe Trump should still lead the party,” will definitely support him if he runs for president in 2024 and consider themselves more Trump supporters than Republicans.
The “Infowars GOP” tribe — the crackpot caucus — makes up 10% of the party and its members believe “several conspiracy theories pushed by QAnon” as part of their near unanimous support of Trump.
The “Trump Boosters” tribe makes up 28% of the party, according to the poll findings. These Republicans give the ex-president “very strong job approval ratings” and show a preference for Trump in a theoretical primary ballot.
The “Post-Trump GOP” tribe, 20% of the party, has a “strong, positive opinion” of Trump, but members say they think it’s time for him to step back. Yet only 5% of that tribe expressed support for the theoretical 2024 candidacy of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the most Kinzingeresque of the potential Republican presidential hopefuls.
Overall, 88% of respondents had a favorable opinion of Trump’s presidency and 57% said they’d definitely vote for him if he runs again. And while, yes, Anthony Fabrizio worked as a pollster for Trump in 2016 and 2020, FiveThirtyEight’s pollster rating gives his firm decent marks and says its results skew slightly Democratic. Further, the overall image emerging from the Fabrizio Lee poll of the GOP as a party
in cultish thrall to Trump is born out by news story after news story of moderate Republican officeholders under threat or heading for the exits.
Kinzinger hasn’t announced his political plans yet and did not return my request for comment. But if he runs for reelection in 2022 the “fight and battle” he envisions looks to be far tougher than just “difficult.”
Renew culture
Seeing those TV commercials for Mike’s Hard Lemonade featuring a humorous cameo by convicted rapist and alleged domestic batterer Mike Tyson makes me wonder where “cancel culture” is when you need it. Former heavyweight boxing champ Tyson spent three years in prison after his conviction for raping a beauty pageant contestant, and he has admitted to having “socked” one of his ex-wives, actress Robin Givens, in a marriage that Givens has said was marked by numerous violent encounters.
Yes, he’s paid his debt to society and has had a troubled life. I’m not suggesting permanent banishment from society. But when there are so many people who’ve lost their gigs or have otherwise been sidelined and marginalized for lapses in judgment or creepy behavior that falls far short of rape or spousal battery, it’s galling to see Tyson used for a laugh line in a booze commercial.
No mercy
In honor of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball championships now in their final stages, I’m going to repeat my suggestion that the sport eliminate the mercy timeout. That’s the emergency stoppage that players call for when, during the flow of the game, they’re trapped by defenders, temporarily in possession of the ball in a scrum on the floor or unable to find an open teammate to pass to as the five-second limit approaches on an inbounds play.
No other sport I can think of allows this sort of suspension of consequences. A quarterback whose pocket has collapsed and is facing an imminent sack can’t save himself by turning to the ref and making a “T” with this hands. A first baseman who sees that a runner has gotten a great jump in a steal attempt can’t look to the ump for instant relief. A tennis player who realizes she’s hit a feeble return can’t yell for a timeout before her opponent smashes back a winner. And so on.
So neither should basketball players in distress be permitted to grab at the lifeline of a timeout. In 2006, in partial recognition of this truth, the NCAA got rid of the rule that permitted an airborne player holding the ball to get a timeout while flying out of bounds. Banning the panic T.O. is an idea that’s long overdue.
Re: Tweets
The winner of this week’s reader poll to select the funniest tweet was “I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink.* — Matthew 25:35 *Offer not valid in Georgia” by @AIWashburn.
The poll appears at chicagotribune.com/ zorn where you can read all the finalists. For an early alert when each new poll is posted, sign up for the Change of Subject email newsletter at chicagotribune.com/ newsletters.
Join me and the other regular panelists every week on The Mincing Rascals, a news-review podcast from WGN Plus that posts Thursday afternoons.