The “Post Trump” Face Of The MAGA GOP Steps Forward

If you get a chance, you really should go to MSNBC.com and catch the A-block segment today. She had Charlie Sykes and former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill on. She started the segment by reading a litany of headlines in the major newspapers over the last 3-4 days. Things like Ties to sanctioned Russian oligarchs, possible money laundering, possible FEC filing violations, possible campaign finance violations, and running a criminal organization.

And then McCaskill blew the doors off. With a grim smile she told Nicolle, I already knew who you were talking about Nicolle, but it gave me chills. I just closed my eyes, and every time you said the word Santos, I just substituted the word Trump. And every single headline made perfect sense and was just as convincing with the new name in it.

Claire is 100% correct. Nothing and nobody lasts forever, either in politics or anything else, and for at least the next two years, he is going to be new face of the GOP, especially since Traitor tot is bunkered up in the basement at Mar-A-Lago.And for the Democrats he’s a gift from God. For oh so many reasons.

Let’s start with the simple stuff. He’s a hollywood double for a 40+ year younger Trump. He’s dumpy, he has bad hair, a pudgy, petulant face, never shuts up, and like His Lowness he hasn’t said an honest word since the pediatrician slapped him on his fat ass. Folks, yu can’t write shit like this in Hollywood.

Now for the political side. Just Like FrankenTrump, Santos entered the race as a rank outsider, and not really seriously considered. Then, again like Trump, Lee zeldin greatly overperformed for the GOP in the New York Governor’s race on Long Island, and Santos rode his coattails to victory. And that’s when the problem started.

Because, just like The Mango Messiah, once Santos got in, people, especially the national media started paying serious attention. And just like with Hair Twitler, that’s where the wheels fell off. Neither one was even sworn in when their fast-and-loose with the truth, as well as quite possibly the law. See any comparisons here?

With The Cheeto Prophet, the GOP writ large were such craven and spineless political and moral cowards that they stuck with Trump for 5 long years, taking massive losses in 2018, losing the White House and the Senate in 2020, and barely held their heads above water in 2022, even with some moderate GOP donors, strategists, and voters finally pulling the plug on The Trumpster fire.

You’d think that the three year old toddlers in the GOP would have learned their lesson by getting their fingers burned on the stove the first time, but no. The Howdy Doody Speaker is such a spineless, feckless, gutless little wuss, and is so terrified of Sugar Daddy Matt Gaetz, and Machine Gun Margie that he’s already making Santos’s excuses for him, and carrying his water to avoid a special election for Santos’s seat that could cost him another vote What do they say? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different outcome.

To my eye there are two main reasons that Santos is such a gift for the Democrats. First, Santos. Ain’t. Going. Anywhere. He’s already made it clear that 143,000 votes, and he’ll see those 143,000 voters in two years to pass judgement. And of course Jellyfish Kevin is already backing Santos’s play, saying he’s sworn in, so it’s between him and the voters.

McCarthy has no idea of what he’s playing with here, and he damn well should. Just like Trump, right now the only ones blasting out any headlines are the media outlets. But Santos already has three different New York state legal departments looking at him criminally, as well as the FEC. And if money laundering or campaign finance violations come to light, you can throw in the DOJ and the FBI. There are almost certainly going to be grand juries, and with the ever present leaks. So for at least the next year, no matter what the House GOP tries to pull, or how they try to craft their media messaging, it’s going to be All-Santos-All-The-Time. The GOP House is going to be pretty much a media afterthought.

Number two is almost as much fun as number one. And it involves two of my favorite words, Trump fatigue. I have written about it strategically for the last five years now. In 2018 I wrote that it was Trump fatigue that was turning off soft middle voters that took a chance on Trump in 2016. It was worse in 2020, with white suburban women swing voters either voting for Biden, or leaving the top spot blank while voting GOP down the line. And in 2022 almost every Trump backed statewide candidate in swing states got creamed.

The majority of voters in this country are sick of Trump. They’re sick of his name, they’re sick of his face, they’re sick of his Bullshit Social Trumper tantrums. They don’t want Trump to stick his fat face out of his hole, and they don’t want Trombie GOP candidates genuflecting and intoning Trump’s name like a Hari Krishna chant. And more importantly they don’t want Democrats talking about him either.

Enter George Santos. While El Pendejo Presidente is repulsive, Santos is so blatantly ridiculous that all people can do is to shake their heads and chuckle. For the next two years, the Democrats can leave Diaper Donnie in the hurt locker, and instead highlight Santos, and all of his chicanery, as the New face of the far right MAGA GOP!

If I’m a Democratic potential candidate for the House in 2024, the first thing I do is to assign a full time staffer to The Santos Desk. His or her job is to scour the media and internet for Santos’s fuckups. Because the attack ads literally write themselves. For example, show about 20 seconds of Santos bullshit, and then intone The voters of NY-3 thought they had a dream candidate. They were wrong. Before you vote, do a little research into the candidates. Your vote matters. Here’s another ready made gem. Show 10 seconds of Santos bullshit, then switch to snips of pissed off NY-3 residents talking about how they want Santos gone! Voice over to Elections have consequences. And in the US congress there are no recall elections. Do your homework before you vote. Played properly the Democrats can rae every GOP opponent with the Santos brush.

I guess what I’m saying is this. If you were totally disgusted with the Trump shit show for the four endless years of the Trump presidency, join the club. But you’ve had your two year hiatus. But now, for the next two years, you can look forward to another two year shit show of nonstop scandal, investigations, and prosecutions. Only instead of just Emperor Numbus Nuttus finally getting his due, you can add in a dipshit GOP representative as well. This is going to get interesting.