It’s (past) time for Trump to leave the field
What the 2022 midterm elections reflect is a resurrection of the damage to Republicans done by the tea party movement, only on a different scale, with a different purpose.
There's not much the Republican Party can do about it, because, at present, it's not in control of a significant portion of its own destiny. Donald Trump holds those cards, and he seems determined to run again for president, to go down and, if necessary, to take the Republican Party with him.
Trump has a following comprised of people who agree with what he says on issues important to them – and who delight that he drives into derangement those on the liberal left.
Privately, a number of Republicans in official positions will say they wish he'd go away; publicly, they are (or perhaps have been, before now) reluctant to say much of anything critical of him, just as Democrats who say negative things about President Joe Biden tend to do it in the background. And Biden didn't motivate Nov. 8's outcome: polls show up to 75% of Democrats don't want him to run again.
The tea party emerged in 2009 to oppose expansive and intrusive government. Before long, its adherents were almost exclusively targeting Republicans they deemed unworthy. The new version has a leader: Trump. And he has a singular purpose: to be back in the White House saddle again, seemingly to prove that he shouldn't have lost in 2020. His ego will accept nothing less. Being Republican is secondary to being Trump.
In my Jan. 23, 2017, column, just after Trump's inauguration, I offered an observation on how Trump sees himself and his place in the political world: “Based on what he said at his inauguration and in the campaign, Trump believes that anything politicians can do, he can do better. He's built and run enormous businesses – failing at some, succeeding at others – and negotiated deals with tough-as-nails opponents. Politicians? He describes them as all talk, no action. This suggests Trump thinks it'll take about 10 minutes, if that long, to learn how to be president. Trump doesn't appear to care if he has a relationship with Republicans or Democrats.”
The headline on the column: “If Trump's not listening, it shouldn't be a surprise.” He's still not listening, and it's not a surprise.
A social media post I shared the day after the midterms provides a further explanation of the election's outcome, and what the future appears to hold for the Republican Party:
Democrats shouldn't have done so well in the midterms
“We've all had times in our lives when something occurred and we said, ‘That shouldn't have happened.'
“With today's inflation, gas prices, and other economic factors, Democrats exceeding expectations yesterday in the manner they did should not have happened. Even the people in our country who were in the best position to know what was coming didn't see it coming.
“But it did. And there has to be a reason. As someone who's been in politics a long time, and who engages in broadcast and print political analysis, I suspect the reason is Donald Trump, and that he motivated a great many people who voted against him in 2020 to vote against him in 2022 as well, only this time it was against Republican candidates.
“Trump appears to have created a new type of tea party. When the tea party first began, its goal was laudable: reduce government spending. But it then morphed out into demanding complete ideological purity on a wide range of issues. Its enemies weren't the Democrats, but other Republicans tea party members saw as not pure enough in their politics.
“The Tea Party faded away as its candidates lost elections against ‘impure' Republicans. Trump has revived it, but in another form.
Trump's party is himself
“In May 2016, I wrote this about Trump in my News Sentinel column: ‘Trump isn't a Republican. He's not a Democrat. He's a Trumplican. Or a Trumprecrat. His party is himself.'
“Many Americans approve of Trump policies, and would gladly have voted for them if Trump hadn't been their standard-bearer, and if they didn't see candidates as his surrogates campaigning for him by proxy. Too many voters simply don't like him. It matters.
“On the radio I've said that the Democrats' best chance of holding on to the White House in 2024 is if Trump runs again.
“Election Day's results are evidence.”
Trump will not go gently into that good night. He won't go on a bad night, either. Republicans are paying a price for that. For the GOP, it could make 2024 very expensive indeed.
George Korda is a political analyst for WATE-TV, hosts “State Your Case” from noon to 2 p.m. Sundays on WOKI-FM Newstalk 98.7 and is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.