Why the hucksters?

GOP can’t be shocked by what it’s produced

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned Republicans on Tuesday that they have not wrapped up their midterm battle to reclaim the Senate majority. “There are places that are competitive in the general election,” he said at an event in Kentucky. “So you can’t nominate somebody who’s just sort of unacceptable to a broader group of people and win. We had that experience in 2010 and 2012.”

Which flaky candidate might he have in mind? Perhaps he is thinking of Mehmet Oz, the TV doctor infamous for hawking substances of little or no proved medical efficacy, who is arguably the favorite in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat.

Or perhaps he’s thinking of Eric Greitens, the Republican candidate for Missouri’s Senate seat who was forced to resign as governor of the state in 2018 over allegations of campaign finance impropriety and sexual misconduct. Greitens remains snared in a web of scandal arising out of a custody battle with his former wife, who alleges, as the Missouri Independent reports, that he “knocked her to the ground and took her phone and keys in an April 2018 incident, loosened a tooth when he struck one of their children in 2019 and used psychological control techniques, including threatening suicide, to keep her silent.” (Greiten denies the allegations.)

Or perhaps McConnell might have been referring to Herschel Walker, the Republican running for Georgia’s Senate seat whom McConnell himself has endorsed. Walker has admitted to being verbally abusive toward his ex-wife. Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reports: “The Republican Senate hopeful and longtime friend of Donald Trump has, for whatever reason, chosen to dramatically inflate his business record… . In doing so, Walker has established a parallel record of demonstrably false claims, many of which appear to bear no resemblance to reality whatsoever.”

Gosh, is it just bad luck that the GOP keeps finding such candidates? Or is there something more fundamental about the party that attracts liars, hucksters, accused abusers and shameless con men?

This is, after all, the party that stood by Donald Trump despite the “Access Hollywood” tape; that nominated Roy Moore for Alabama’s Senate seat despite claims from multiple women he pursued them romantically as teenagers or committed sexual assault (which Moore has denied); and that continues to embrace Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., despite accusations of sex trafficking (for which Gaetz claims innocence). Clearly, the GOP cannot claim high standards when it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct.

And given that McConnell never raised concerns about Trump’s financial corruption , can he blame Georgia Republicans if they are blind to the business-related liabilities Walker might have in a general election?

Ironically, and sadly, the Republican Party used to be concerned with personal rectitude and “public virtue.” They’ve long given up the notion that ethical conduct, honesty, empathy or self-discipline have anything to do with politics. McConnell’s baffled reaction this past week when Axios’s Jonathan Swan asked him about his “moral red lines” reveals that holding and expanding power is all that matters in the modern GOP.