Today, we’ll take a break from the establishment media fury and pundit hubbub surrounding the Republican lower chamber members’ closed door candidate forum meeting tomorrow
and the vote on Wednesday, where they’ll attempt to rally around one person to assume the gavel – and the duties – of the Speaker of the House.
As I noted last week, the so-called “chaos” involved with leadership struggles within “The People’s House” is healthy, and although it may not look like it now, eventually things will work themselves out and hopefully conservatives and Republicans will find a more responsive leadership team replacing the old one and hence address the onerous policy demands of today’s America, most of which was foisted upon us by the corporate media’s intentional neglect of the issues and news that really matters – and the Democrat leaders who’ve taken advantage of power to wreck the country. Why sugarcoat it?
The 2024 Republican primary race is part of the overall tug-of-war between the DC swamp political establishment and the rest of us “normal” people who just want a government that leaves us alone to the greatest extent feasible, taxes only what it legitimately needs to spend and makes reasonable laws to be enforced by dedicated public servants who wouldn’t dream of abusing their authority.
Yes, and donkeys really can fly and unicorns aren’t a fixture of anyone’s imagination.
Beyond the immediate concerns – or hype – is the fact it’s been almost two weeks since the last “official” Republican debate took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. As I predicted shortly after the two-hour verbal fracas (sometimes known as a political debate) concluded, nothing much, in terms of real competitive movement, has occurred in the time since. Lone female candidate Nikki Haley, who stood out on stage for reasons other than her fierce defense of the neoconservative foreign policy, has appeared to gain – a bit – from the experience.
The rest? Nope, which brings up questions as to whether to even continue holding these highly polished political showcases in the first place. Race frontrunner Donald Trump, as one would expect, isn’t holding back on his opinion. Trump thinks they’re a waste of time.
In an article titled “Trump campaign calls on RNC to cancel third GOP debate”, Caroline Vakil reported at The Hill last week:
“Former President Trump’s campaign called on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to cancel its third debate scheduled in Miami next month [November 8], even amid reporting that Trump is not anticipated to attend the event.
“’The Republican National Committee should immediately cancel the upcoming debate in Miami and end all future debates in order to refocus its manpower and money on preventing Democrats’ efforts to steal the 2024 election,’ Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement, without offering any basis that Democrats were acting improperly in the 2024 election.
“’Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel, are an admission to the grassroots that their concerns about voter integrity are not taken seriously and national Republicans are more concerned about helping Joe Biden than ensuring a safe and secure election,’ they added.”
The pair of Trump advisors further added that the money the RNC dumps (excuse me, “spends”) into hosting these forums could be put to better use by training rhetorical fire on senile president Joe Biden in pursuit of the end goal of winning back the White House. Trump is far from alone in feeling this way as there were a number of similar calls by people-in-the-know for the Republican shows to end completely, or to be vastly scaled back.
And yes, this is technically old news since Trump made the “suggestion” over a week ago, but nothing much has happened – at least regarding the Republican horserace -- in the interim to change the calculus all that much. If anything, the fact that the second debate was about as inconsequential as the first bolsters Trump’s argument for ditching them entirely.
But lost in the back-and-forth over poll numbers and debate relevance was Trump’s greater point, that the RNC had better get its act together and get going on elections integrity. The voting “game” changed dramatically in 2020 with universal mail-in balloting, ballot harvesting and unmonitored ballot drop boxes due to the COVID farce, and, as far as many of us know, there hasn’t been a great deal done about making sure that the integrity issues don’t show their ugly faces again in a little over a year’s time.
It seems to this observer that the national Republican brain trust is hesitant to bring up the integrity issues lest they be accused by the establishment media and their Democrat pals of believing in “discredited and false” theories of a stolen 2020 election. Then, of course, if the aftermath of said election is rehashed for all to see, it just gives license for the Trump-haters to dredge up January 6 and the “insurrection” that never was -- again.
This behavior is characteristic cowardice from the national party, which never does anything that some leftist agitator might find offensive and use against Republicans in a campaign ad or distorted op-ed. These short-sighted GOP “leaders” don’t realize that the left would do it anyway, as referrals to something that happened years ago is all Democrats have to cloak their awful policies that have resulted in a stuttering economy, high inflation, high food prices, high gas prices and mortgage rates that have priced most first-time buyers out of the market.
I can’t speak for everyone, but here’s guessing most Americans who are open to hearing a message will be basing their votes on so-called “kitchen table” issues and their thoughts on the virtually invisible border with Mexico, crime that keeps them trapped in their homes, schools that don’t teach kids the basics and government policy that seeks to take common necessities (like gas stoves) away from them in the name of “climate change”.
America has gone noticeably downhill since Joe Biden was inaugurated, and his defense of the economy under the “Bidenomics” label isn’t paying off in improved approval ratings. Senile Joe got away with his lies during his “honeymoon” period where he could still blame everything that went wrong on COVID, Trump policy and dumb luck. People are paying attention now, however, and they don’t like what they see. Ignore Biden and cheat to win in 2024? Say it isn’t so!
The left isn’t stupid – far from it. It may not be visible to the naked eye, but the same forces that drummed up 80 million votes for senile Joe in 2020 are hard at work now doing everything possible to once again cook the numbers – and the result – so as to remain in power indefinitely.
The RNC should be working overtime – today – to ensure that Republicans are prepared for a year from now when early voting will have already started and officials have made plans to count the votes come Election Day. If they wait until the last moment to hire the lawyers, find precinct watchers and simply react to whatever the Democrats throw at them, it will be too late. Far too late.
So, basically, Trump was correct in advising the RNC to devote more time and resources into making plans to guarantee elections integrity. Whether such measures should come at the expense of further “official” debates is another subject. One candidate, no matter how prominent, doesn’t have the right to tell the party how the nominating process should be run. That’s for the committee members from each state to determine.
Many conservatives said it would be a waste to renominate Ronna Romney McDaniel for another term as chairman, and it looks like we were right, since the messaging from the RNC doesn’t appear to have improved ever since. All Republicans – and particularly those in position to act on these issues – should make elections integrity a centerpiece in their platforms.
I’ve watched both of the debates and written on them. To my recollection, none of the candidates have addressed the matter (did Ramaswamy say something? Or DeSantis? Not sure.). The establishment candidates – Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Tim Scott and to some degree, Mike Pence – have taken more shots at Trump than they have at the leftist forces that are actively working to ensure that no Republican gets elected. And that includes each of them if they end up the nominee.
Elections integrity might not be everything, but if it’s not conducted properly, it could be the only thing that impacts (in a bad way) the country. We simply can’t afford to endure another four years of senile Joe Biden – or one of the other equally compromised and heinous Democrats – because the details weren’t looked at now by the powers-that-be. It’s that crucial.
As to whether the third (and ensuing) debate should be cancelled? It shouldn’t be forgotten that Trump has opted out of the programs, not that they’ve excluded him for any reason. Poll numbers are what they are, but it’s still possible (feasible? Not so sure) that one of the not-Trump candidates will rise in popularity. It won’t be because of a “debate”, but other factors – such as consolidation by the not-Trump faction – might contribute.
As the qualifications criteria gets more stringent, fewer candidates could be vying for a larger slice of the pie. There are also endorsements to consider, though I’m not sure affirmation by Chris Christie or Asa Hutchinson or Doug Burgum would move the needle. Of course, there’s the other side of the coin – if Vivek Ramaswamy endorses Trump (which he very well could), it would enlarge Trump’s following.
The next debate should go on as scheduled, but perhaps with some new rules/guidelines to govern interruptions and time overages. That little bell the moderators use isn’t getting the job done, is it?
Joe Biden economy
inflation
Biden cognitive decline
gas prices,
Nancy Pelosi
Biden senile
January 6 Committee
Liz Cheney
Build Back Better
Joe Manchin
RINOs
Marjorie Taylor Green
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
2022 elections
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election
Here's a message for the RNC, and all the others complaining about the Democrats having more money, stop sending me cry baby emails saying "we're in trouble if we don't raise more money to meet our deadline by midnight tonight, etc." You may be short on funds, so don't waste it on junk debates. Most of us don't have any loose change to spare anyway. You need to use what you have wisely. At least half of those 80 million votes Biden was credited with in 2020 were bogus. You need to insure that doesn't happen again and waiting until the last minute to address it won't result in anything positive.