As a Democrat, I have to say I’m getting a little tired of the constant criticism that Republican leaders are being subjected to, for simply being Republican leaders. This goes for everyone from Trump to Cruz and McConnell, Rubio and Hawley, Ron Johnson, the ever-ridiculous Louie Gohmert, and a whole lot more.
True,
they are all hypocrites, clueless and idealess, which is a whole lot more
problematic than being an idealist. They stand for nothing other than
self-preservation in a dog-eat-dog world of politics, which is why it has
become easier than it’s ever been to make fun of them or box them into a corner
by throwing their own words back at them.
Nevertheless,
ridiculing Republican leaders has become all too easy, because they are simply doing
the only thing they feel they must do to hang on to their jobs—appeal to
Republican voters by being loyal Republicans. They are wrong of course. They
could be leaders, but leadership is not what Republican voters look for in
their leaders. Trump won in 2016 because he said what Republican voters wanted
to hear, not what they needed to hear.
For
this reason, while media fatigue has allowed me to let Republican leaders off the hook, and because
they deserve our pity more than our scorn, I am disgusted with Republican
voters. Not just because more of them seem to be white supremacist,
racists, bigots, religious fanatics, law-and-order enthusiast who don’t respect
the law, Constitutionalist who don’t respect the Constitution, and in many
cases, may not have ever read the Constitution, or just plain folks who simply
don’t care about anyone other than themselves.
I’m
disgusted with them because they just don’t seem to be that smart.
I’ve
listened to QAnon conspiracist rationalize why they supported and continue to
support Trump and it’s mind-boggling—not only for what they think they know,
but what they honestly don’t know, and make no mistake, QAnon conspiracist vote
Republican.
So
do a lot of other crazies—Proud Boys, boogaloo boys, that old standby KKK,
those people who think masks aren’t necessary, or the ones who think guns are
not only necessary but vital to our survival.
Too many of these
not-so-smart Republicans think a debate on healthcare or wages or the economy
or politics can be won by throwing out the words Socialism, traitor, un-American,
fake news, Soros and lately Hunter.
They
are so ill-informed, and willingly so, that Republicans were able to run in the
last election on a platform completely devoid of ideas or policies, other than,
we’ll do whatever Donald Trump wants us to do. This was the Republican platform
and 74 million Republican voters said, “Sounds good to me.”
When
Hillary Clinton declared Trump supporters were deplorable, and was rightfully
called on it, she immediately apologized and admitted that not all of the 60
million people who voted for Trump in 2016 were deplorable, only many of them.
Of course, she was talking about the white supremacists, bigots, racists,
fanatics, conspiracist and extremists, but not every Republican voter fell into
these categories.
Some
were just lifelong Republicans, probably born and raised in Republican
households, just as many Democrats are lifelong Democrats born and raised in
Democratic households.
Close
elections are generally not won or lost by these voters, but rather by those in
the middle who tend to lean one way or the other depending on the year, the
issues, or the candidates.
For
any number of reasons, 60 million voters chose Trump in 2016, and while they
were not a majority, they were strategically well placed to secure an Electoral
College win for who turned out to be, the worst president ever.
Twenty-twenty
was a different ballgame entirely. Democrats picked up 17 million votes, which
wasn’t surprising considering Trump had spent four years bashing Democrats as
Socialists and un-American traitors.
What
was surprising, was Trump picking up 14 million more votes after a presidency that should have only pleased James Buchanan, a presidency that included a public love-fest with a Korean
dictator and murderer, a tax law that benefitted millionaires and billionaires
and very few middle class Republicans, two impeachments and the groundwork for
numerous lawsuits once he left office. There was also a wall that Mexico never
paid for because it was never built, an immigration policy that separated
hundreds of children from their families, and a response to a world-wide
pandemic that was disastrous for the nation and fatal to 500,000 and counting
Americans.
The
events of January 6, 2021, as well as Trump’s behavior in the two months after
the election, only solidified for me that Trump is not qualified to be president,
and yet, he appears to have lost little support among his base. Seventy-four
million Americans voted for Trump in 2020, after a presidency that gave him a
leg up in the race for worst president ever. I shudder to think what those
voters saw in Trump’s presidency that made them want to go down that road
again.
The
devotion of Republican politicians to Trump was evidenced recently by their
behavior at CPAC, where they publicly proclaimed what we all knew they were
doing privately—pledge their allegiance before a cartoonish golden Trump mannequin. I
don’t expect them to behave any differently than they do. I’d like to think
they answer to the Constitution, but I’m not naïve. They only answer to voters,
Trump voters.
Again,
maybe not all of those voters are deplorable. It’s possible that some might
just be foolish, but the fourteen million new Trump voters, if they had been
paying attention—and how could they not have been paying attention—surely they
are deplorable.
No
one in their right mind could have witnessed the last four years, listened to
Trump speak, read about his missteps—no not missteps, but rather crimes since
even Republicans attest to his guilt—and not realize that he is a dictatorial
demigod, and totally unfit to be president.
As
sensible, thinking Republican voters continue to jump ship, making the party less
sustainable than a Trump casino, Republican leaders are not the problem so much
as Trump voters, the deplorable ones are, and they are not just a problem for the
Republican Party, but for the nation.
