GOP Strategy in 2024

In an earlier post I raised the question as to how it’s possible that Republicans believe they can win in 2024 with a platform of inflicting as much pain as possible on everyone but wealthy straight white males.

For those who think the Democrats are bound to sweep, however, there’s a problem: the broadspread hatred of Biden based on the mischaracterization of him as an old, senile socialist.  My mother detests Trump, but she is a life-long Republican, based on her conservative values and her disgust for Democrats generally.  If the presidential election were held today between Biden and Trump, she’d be forced to vote for Trump, as loathsome a character as she finds him to be.

The same can be said for virtually all the tens of millions of other traditional Republicans who understand that Trump is a despicable human being: they could never, under any circumstances, bring themselves to vote for a Democrat.

Now, you might ask what the political upshot will be when Trump is indicted on some combination of seditious conspiracy, election tampering, and theft of classified government documents.  The answer resides in whether or not it costs him the nomination.  If it doesn’t, Trump is no more endangered as a candidate than he would be if his bust were carved into Mount Rushmore.

Thus we’re left at the same spot at which we’ve found ourselves for years: the imperative to get all eligible voters to register and show up at the polls.  If we can do that effectively, no amount of unfounded rhetoric or voter suppression will return Trump to the White House.