Liz Cheney has pushed her strategy too far for the liking of her own party. Democrats need a stalking horse to block Donald Trump’s return, but their support for the Never Trumpers won’t deliver it.
Bonjour, Buenos Días, How do you do? We are only five months into 2021, and everyone is talking about elections already.
What’s at stake? Democrats want to keep the House in 2022 and the White House in 2024, and the person in their way is Donald Trump.
Liz Cheney is out as Jim Jordan confirmed that he has the votes to oust her, as per Trump’s wishes. Soon to be appointed Biden’s ambassador to the World Food Program at the UN, Cindy McCain told Amanpour that the Republican Party had lost its way. She referred to the Trump supporters as a “minority,” a minority of 74 million people, to be precise, but that’s what she said.
Jim Jordan is adamant that the Republican Party cannot have a conference chair spitting out Democrat talking points. “You can’t have a Republican conference chair taking a position that 90 percent of the party disagrees with, and you can’t have a Republican party chair consistently speaking out against the individual who 74 million Americans voted for,” he said.
Joe Walsh was one of the first Republicans to break away. Still, he never got the credit nor political accolades except on Twitter from the Democratic voters and followers every time he bashed the Republicans. Democrats will never accept Walsh’s conversion as political currency as they have plenty of ambitious members who want to lead their party.
TRUMP IS HERE TO STAY
The primary indicator that Trump was here to stay was Nikki Haily’s press conference when she said that she would support former President Trump should he decide to run again. Apart from DeSantis, Republicans do not have a popular enough leader to succeed Joe Biden, who almost certainly will be a single-term president.
Democrats want to keep the House, and Pelosi, politically savvy as she is, knows that Republican Party led by Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney would be easy to beat at the ballot box. However, the Republican party led into the election by Donald J Trump would not.
Former President Trump, or the “former guy” as Biden likes to call him, is still very popular. As if to confirm this, the Texas special election for the U.S. House has shown that Susan Wright, a candidate he endorsed, came out on top with 19.21%. Adam Kizinger’s candidate Michael Wood got only 3.19% in the race involving 23 candidates.
Suppose that the pundits lie; the election results don’t. In politics, everyone wants to go with the winner, and this time is no different.
Democrats need a stalking horse, and the Never Trumpers are doing their bidding. Unsuccessfully.
ELISE STEFANIK IS IN IT TO WIN IT
Elise Stefanik may come across as a brash, loud female Republican, but she is professionally accomplished and ready to do what it takes to prove her loyalty. She does not wear a matching mask with the outfit, and $700 a pair of high heels, but she is Harvard educated and she worked for the Bush administration and Paul Ryan’s presidential campaign.
Democrats do not like Elise, Never Trumpers don’t like Elise, but her strategy is paying off as she is poised to assume No.3 place in the party and overshadow Liz Cheney. We can now lose ourselves in the endless speculative discussions about Elise, but it comes down to whether you win or not when you are running in the race. Elise Stefanik is in it to win it.
Pelosi seems upset that the Republicans are looking for a “non-threatening female.” Still, a non-threatening female Republican is precisely what would favor the Democrats to keep their power intact. Pelosi is strategic here, but her strategy is nothing but a political game.
What Pelosi is saying does not affect Elise in any way nor those who want to oust Cheney. Republicans are going to do what they want to do. Pelosi may protest too much, but it’s not her party to control. The Speaker of the House would be better off watching her back as the AOC is waiting in the wings to lead the Democrats into the future.
Adam Kinzinger and Cheney have all gotten all-access to the liberal media. Still, except for branding, these OpEds and TV appearances Never Trumpers have, do not hold water for the Republican party as their supporters are watching Fox, Newsmax, and OAN.
Democrats would encourage SPLINTER PARTY
Democrats would encourage a splinter party, although they used to say that the third party run would split the vote. Remember Hillary Clinton famously trashing Jill Stein as a “Russian asset”? Or Tulsi Gabbard?
If Hillary has been consistent in something, that’s seeing Russian conspiracies everywhere. She recently blamed the Russians for the success of Brexit despite the fact that Brits are still happy with the decision they made and that there was no evidence that Russians had any significant sway on the U.K. Referendum.
This time around, a splinter party is precisely what’s needed to stop the Republican Party’s comeback under Trump. Democrats and their friends in the media (party operatives turned journalists) will happily promote Never Trumpers, knowing that these people do not represent any threat to them.
Democrat voters are willing to accept Never Trumpers as long as they attack their primary opponents like Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik, and likes. But if it comes to the point that Americans have to choose between Never Trumpers and Democrats, they would turn on them in a second. That’s the political reality.
TRUMP CAME VIA PAVEMENT POLITICS
President Biden was flirting with the idea of bipartisan government, but it never happened. Some political traditions never change, and the winner takes it all is at the core of American power share.
As we go through 2021, we are yet to see more unholy alliances, each looking at the other as a vehicle for their own power grab. It’s a shortcut for name recognition, book deals, political TV shows, and fame, but essentially, voters need to want to vote for them, and that is why nothing can replace the grassroots movements, no matter how excellent or vital the optics and ads are.
That’s why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump were successful in galvanizing unwavering support. They both came from the outside of the system, and their political support and livelihood did not depend on the mainstream media. Bernie and Trump came via doorstep or pavement politics and social media, and they bypassed all the usual gatekeepers. Big Tech is now the new political and information gatekeeper, an unelected techno-state, but even after removing Trump from all mainstream apps, they can not send him into a political irrelevance as he created his base offline. Trump is and will be politically relevant, still.
If you were sick and you went to a doctor, you would want him to give you a diagnosis and not lie to you. It’s the same with a political diagnosis: You can speak in popular narratives and wishful thinking or the truth. America deserves objectivity. And objectivity, on the whole, is long gone.
Cheney started shooting too fast
If the Republican Party wants to reform itself, it will have to do it solely through policy differentiation and its own efforts. Bipartisan opposition to Donald Trump won’t work this time around as they know they cannot build their opposition to Biden if they are waiting for the Democrats to give them the approval. If you agree too much with the ruling party, you provide no reason for voters to choose you over those who are in power already.
The Democrats are trying to block Trump’s return, but their support for the Never Trumpers won’t deliver it.
Liz Cheney has pushed her strategy too far for the liking of her own party. She should have been steadier and more long-term. Cheney started shooting too fast and too obviously; that’s a strategic mistake on her part. What comes next? History will judge, and ultimately, the American people will vote on.
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