GOP strategist issues challenge to his party
Iwas asked to describe where the Republican Party goes from here in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack upon the U. S. Capitol by a mob of insurrectionists incited by President Trump.
The answer is, I’m not really sure.
What I am sure of is that until the Republican Party is no longer the vessel of politicians who have helped form and perpetuate the seditionist lie that the November 2020 election was fraudulent, there is no path forward to credibly govern or gain control of either elected branch of government. Nor should there be one. In these days before us, Republican leaders must acknowledge that Trump is the father of an insurrection and it is still active. The radicalized base of the Republican Party knows that he delighted in the violent assault on American democracy. He called the assailants “very special” and has signaled to them his approval by refusing to immediately condole the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.
Trump’s refusal to attend the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, while still refusing to concede Biden won a fair and free election, is a clear indication he plans to continue to command his followers into the future. There will be a Trump media platform, rallies at which he will continue to claim he won the election. He’ll ease into claiming he’s the “true president.”
The rebellion doesn’t end on Jan. 20. It will progress.
The longer GOP leaders delay in confronting this reality and seek to hold him accountable, the more uncertain the future of the party will remain.
Shouldn’t they have started by not voting ( after the riot!) to reject the electors from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? Yes. But 126 Republicans voted to do so. Why? A good number are radicalized themselves and believe the conspiracy nonsense of a fraudulent election. Some are worse — they don’t believe the conspiracy but choose to perpetuate it for their own cynical quest for power and relevance.
But there are also those that cast their votes because they’re scared. Scared of the repercussions from within their own constituencies. Their votes should not be excused. They’ve taken an oath to the Constitution of the United States, but it’s important to understand the depth of the radicalization of likely 20% of the American population.
This is a moment for Republican leaders to decide on which side of history they will stand. Unlike the movies, it turns out that doing the right thing isn’t easy or aggrandizing. If the Republican Party as we knew it is to be revived, there must be a resolve to extinguish the predicate of the insurrection — that the election was fraudulent.
This requires immediate action. House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy needs to join the lead of the GOP Conference Chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, RWyo., and publicly state that Trump is wrong about the election. It was valid and Joe Biden will be a legitimately elected president of the United States.
The worst of the instigators, Sen. Josh Hawley, RMo., and Sen. Ted Cruz, RTexas, need to be ostracized and then removed from the Senate when next on the ballot. Their colleagues should censure them. They should be described as enemies of the Constitution and our institutions of democracy. They should be made examples of in order to prod cowards to find “courage” by default.
Begging for the Democrats to not proceed with a second impeachment so the “country can heal” is absurd. Insurrectionists aren’t interested in “healing;” they’re interested in a revolution. Revolutions must be quashed. The Republican Party should stand for a measure of justice for the assault upon democracy. Impeachment should be supported by Republicans.
The question we all should be considering isn’t where does the Republican Party go from here, but where does American politics go from here?
To my fellow Republicans, I beg you, find your voice in this momentous hour in defense of American democracy.