I don’t know why, but I’ve always gotten a kick out o the old phrase You can’t rape the willing. Just something about the thought that if somebody rolls on their back and says Come on Big Boy, you’re probably sliding into home safely. I used that basic structure while thinking about the GOP to craft, And you can’t teach the willfully stupid. But when I look at the shenanigans of today’s GOP, I had to add a refinement, Teach? Hell, you can’t even potty train ’em!
It’s obvious by now that the GOP is broken But you can stop looking at the national leadership, Mitch McConnell, and Kevin McCarthy to fix it, no matter what they do. There has been previously reported that the RNC wasn’t happy because Two Shirts Steve Bannon was preaching the nihilistic faith by trying to get bomb throwers and fire starters into politics at the local level. I think I know why.
Tomorrow in Wisconsin they’ll be holding a primary election. The election will be in April. The seat that’s opening up is a seat on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court. Right now the court has a 4-3 conservative edge. It is estimated that advertising for a state Supreme Court seat will surpass $10 million.
And the GOP in Wisconsin is hell bent on mucking it up. Once again they are making abortion the centerpiece of the race. All the GOP can see is the validity of an 1849 law that bans abortion. The Democrats are challenging the validity of that law in court, and both the Democratic Governor and Attorney General have sworn not to enforce it. But it will be before the court in a year or so, and the GOP desperately wants it enshrined into law so they can shut everything down.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. If the GOP were 3 y.o. toddlers, they’d have to wrapped head to toe in flame retardant to keep them from getting constant stove burns! The GOP made abortion their centerpiece issue in 2022, and got their asses kicked in every race where it came heavily into play. Who the hell shows up for a Supreme Court primary in late February? Thanks to the GOP highlighting abortion, every Democrat and pro choice voter in Wisconsin! And you can bet they’ll be back in April for the general election.
And here’s how short sighted they are. A state GOP leader got caught in an email for openly boasting about how the removal of more than half of the drop boxes in Wisconsin led to a 37,000 drop off in voting in black and Hispanic areas. If the Democrats win that seat in April, the now Democratic Secretary of State plans to restore all of those drop boxes, and expand early voting. And Governor Evers will ask a newly minted liberal Supreme Court to throw out the legislature’s insanely gerrymandered map and order a new one. But that’s OK, you guys just stay fixated on abortion.
Now let’s move on to Michigan, because this one is like a Mastercard commercial, it’s freakin’ priceless. Yesterday the Michigan state GOP held their leadership election. And the winner? The MAGA election denier who got her clock cleaned in the Governor’s race by 14 points. The runner up? The Trump backed MAGA election denier who got his clock cleaned by 10 points in the Attorney General’s race. Yeah. Trump is now so freakin’ powerful that he can’t even endorse a state Chair to victory!
Look, the Michigan state GOP ran a hardcore slate of MAGA election deniers for every statewide seat, and went O-fer. And got woolie stomped. Not only did the Democrats sweep the statewide slate, they flipped both chambers of the legislature for the first time in more than a decade. And now unified Democratic government is poised to enshrine abortion rights into law, pass meaningful gun legislation, and make voting safer and easier. Who knows? Maybe they’ll throw in some loaves and fishes just for kicks.
The voters of Michigan made it crystal clear last November. They’re sick to death of all things MAGA and election denialism. So who does the Michigan state GOP elect to get this mess turned around in the next 18 months or so? A MAGA election denier who got slaughtered in her last election. Hmmm. I wonder what kind of a candidate slate they’ll be recruiting?
Let’s end with Arizona, cuz it’s as cute as a button. As in Michigan, a full statewide slate of MAGA election deniers fell flat on its face. And now the new Democratic executive branch is busy turning the GOP’s bullshit Election Integrity Office into the Election Improvement Office. And I love what they’ve done with the place!
They want to do things like restore all the drop boxes the GOP pulled, restore the in person drop off locations, create a no loitering within 500′ of a drop box, and improve early voting access. And look, just in time for 2024!
Pop Quiz! What’s the Marquee Arizona statewide race in 2024? Kyrsten Sinema’s US Senate seat. Sinema has already potentially given the GOP a golden goose by basically abdicating her seat to run as an independent, leaving a unified GOP candidate with potential Democratic vote splitting in the general election.
So, who’s the anointed one to capitalize on this Democratic largesse? From early scuttlebutt, take your pick. Either former local news tool and GOP gubernatorial loser Kari Lake, who apparently can’t even get a job at FUX News, or Blake Masters, the 2022 US Senate candidate that got smoked trying for what the Democrats were worried would be one of their most vulnerable seats. What could go wrong?
Here’s my underlying point. Right now, there are signs all over the place in the national GOP, from fundraisers to strategists, from leaders to moderate voters that they are so over Trump. They want to move on. You even have a GOP presidential candidate whose whole campaign is based on turning the page. Which is great, and I wish them well.
But just getting rid of Trump isn’t going to get rid of Trumpism. Trump and Bannon were smart enough to not rest at the top, but dig down and indoctrinate the local yokels in GOP dominated states. Even if McConnell and McCarthy want to put sane, moderate candidates on the ballot, the state and local GOP organizations have the edge in organizing, manpower, and grassroots support. Until the national GOP scrubs out that oven, the food is still going to stink. Three words for the GOP. Launder. Rinse. Repeat.
