The Republican Party just revealed its Achilles’ heel
The Republican civil war will probably happen for as long as the GOP doesn’t really have a clear sense of leadership and still debates whether or not Donald Trump should play an active role in the party. That’s not to say that you should write them off as harmless, because they are desperately looking for the next culture war issue to get behind for the 2022 midterms, and those will be crucial for us to win next year, particularly when it comes to expanding governorships and our majority in the Senate, so we need to be looking for solid candidates to run against them.
A recent press conference this week on the subject of CPAC, however, may have revealed an Achilles’ heel for Democrats to take advantage of – as the disarray can no longer be hidden from the public. The yearly conference of right-wing fanatics has usually taken a backseat when it comes to news coverage, but it’s gotten a bit more traction this year since Trump is a featured speaker. When Kevin McCarthy was asked by reporters about whether he supported this decision, he gave Trump his support, but when it was Liz Cheney’s turn, she reminded reporters of her vote to impeach Trump and said openly that she doesn’t believe Trump should play a role in the future of the GOP or the country.
This clearly wasn’t something McCarthy was expecting, as he then called for an end to questions, after Cheney clearly made the party’s minority leader look weak in public. The key to keeping someone like McCarthy from ever becoming house speaker isn’t by calling out Republicans for being corrupt or hypocrites – it’s to make them look weak at every possible opportunity. Playing up moments like this can only help us, as no one wants to be associated with the weak side that always loses. The longer the party is forced to choose between Trump or not, they will lose however they pick.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making