Scaros: GOP Winning Back Congress? Be Careful What You Wish For
Don’t let the headline fool you. I want the Republicans to win back both houses of Congress this fall, and I think they have an excellent chance to do so.
The thoughts of Nancy Pelosi stepping down as House speaker and the Democrats losing their legislative power makes me jump for joy. But it also scares me. Here’s why.
Although the Supreme Court and Congress are very powerful and influential, more than anything else I’d like to see either Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis in the White House in 2024.
There’s a myriad of theories about why the 2020 presidential election resulted in Joe Biden emerging with 7 million more total votes and 72 more electoral votes than Trump, but few can argue that an anti-Trump movement perpetuated by the media from the moment he won in 2016 brainwashed millions of gullible voters into developing Trump Derangement Syndrome to the extent that they cared very little about how Biden would fare as president.
I join those who find that a travesty of justice, and would love nothing more than to see Trump regain his place in the Oval Office to finish the good work that he began.
Alternatively, if Trump chooses not to run or if the powers that be force him out, I take comfort in the alternative of DeSantis because, while he may not captivate supporters quite like Trump does, he is savvier in terms of not getting into political hot water, and though he’s been untested on the national stage, it’s not outrageous to suggest that he has the potential to be a great president.
Therefore, as much as I’d love to see the Republicans win in 2022, I want Trump or DeSantis as president in 2024 even more. And I’m worried that by winning in 2022, the Republicans might hurt themselves by, to borrow a sports term, scoring too quickly.
Football is one of many sports with a time limit. Once the clock runs out, the team with the most points wins. That’s why if a team has the ball and is trailing by a point or two with, say, four minutes left in the game, coaches often try to time the potential go-ahead play so that it coincides as closely as possible with how much time is left in order to prevent the other team from having time to score again and win the game.
Similarly, if the Republicans win this year, only part of their support will come from “no matter what” voters, i.e., those who will turn out election after election and vote Republican no matter what.
Other voters, though, will take a chance on the Republicans only because they’re disgusted with the current Democratic Congress. But if the GOP has a bad term, those voters often have a short memory and will revert to the Democrats in 2024, including their choice for president.
None of this is to suggest that if the Republicans win this year they can’t win in 2024, or that it’s better if they lose this time instead of win. However, if they do indeed “score” this time, they’d better not make any dumb mistakes on defense. They need to stay focused and hungry and not let the Democrats back in the game.
Historically, congressional approval ratings are abysmal year after year, no matter which party is in charge. For Republicans to overcome that pattern requires them to do a good enough job while in power to overcome the public relations onslaught they’ll face from the opposition, which controls much of the media, academia and Hollywood.
In other words, if they want to hold on to Congress in 2024 and also win back the White House, merely being good isn’t good enough; they’ll have to be spectacular.
Hopefully, enough readers will forward this article to their congressional candidates of choice.
Anyone running this fall needs to remember that winning is easy — it’s staying in power that’s the hard part.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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