George Santos is becoming a huge gift to House Democrats
I’m not sure how many people on the outside understand this, but incoming House Republican George Santos is a gift to the Democrats. Even if they can’t get him to resign, they’ll spend the next two years chipping away at House Republicans in vulnerable districts over their refusal to condemn or expel him. The Santos scandal could net the Democrats 3-5 seats in 2024.
Democrats have no control over whether Santos resigns. They don’t have a two thirds vote to expel him. All they can do is pressure him. It’s solely up to him if he wants to resign and disappear before more gets dug up. But it may be better for Democrats if he stays anyway.
If Santos quits, it’ll make the House Republican majority that much smaller, and with some special elections and some luck it could put the majority on the line at some point. But if he stays, Democrats get to keep using him as a weapon, and it’ll increase their odds of winning the House majority in 2024.
This is how things actually work in politics, and it’s how you have to look at things if your goal is to win. It’s not about “shouldn’t be allowed” or “needs to be held accountable.” Those concepts have their place. But they don’t apply to winning in politics.
Nor is there any point wasting one minute of your time focusing on why the Democrats didn’t uncover this before the election. Who cares? This kind of lamenting is not relevant to winning. Waste of time. And he hid it well enough that even the media didn’t find it until just now.
House Democratic leadership is doing a really good job of pushing Santos to the front and making him a real problem for House Republicans in swing districts who are refusing to denounce or expel him. If you care about winning, join the Democrats in pushing this messaging.
How much have you pushed Santos out front this week? How many times have you retweeted House Democrats’ tweets about Santos this week? That’s the measure of whether you’re doing your part as an activist. Yes, you! No matter how savvy House Democrats are with their messaging, they need activists like you to help repeat and amplify it whenever you agree with it. So check out what leading Democrats are saying on social media right now about the George Santos scandal, and let’s help them spread it.
