Republicans seem to be trying to define themselves as the party of extremes. In state after state, they pass abortion bans that will almost certainly drive a wedge between them and women voters, especially young ones. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis probably just sunk his presidential hopes by signing a six-week ban. Over in Texas, GOP Governor Greg Abbott declared he would undermine the justice system by pardoning a man just convicted of murder because his victim was a Black Lives Matter protester. The man has a history of posting racist rants. In Tennessee, the all-White Republican house caucus expelled two Black legislators for a relatively minor infraction, only to have the members sent back the house by their districts. Republicans might not like the racist label, but they sure make it easy to pin it on them.
Heading into 2024, Republicans need to change the dynamics if they hope to take the White House, expand their House majority, and capture the Senate. Instead, they are doubling down. Maybe they think their incredibly narrow margin in the House was a big victory. In fact, it was clear warning. Given the number of states where they control redistricting, they should have a substantial majority in the House and they should probably have control of the Senate. All of the fundamentals heavily favored Republicans in 2022—first midterm following redistricting with a president of the opposite party in his first term—and yet their narrow House majority was their only real victory, aside from those in North Carolina.
What’s scary is that Republicans believe they can govern from the extremes without accountability. They don’t see elections as a threat. Traditionally, political leaders have been pushed to the center because taking positions like the ones Republicans are taking today led to defeat at the ballot box. The GOP seems to be less influenced by the prospect of losing elections because they believe they can’t be held accountable.
In state legislatures across the country, the vast majority of seats are safe for one party or the other. Primaries become main election and the electorate becomes heavily skewed toward activists. Taking extreme positions is not a liability, but a campaign strategy. In evenly divided states like North Carolina and Wisconsin, Republican hold super-majorities. They can pass extremist legislation that appeals to their base, but not the middle, with little in political consequences.
The GOP is attempting to drag the country to right, enforcing its will on an unwilling majority. It won’t end well. They will continue to struggle in statewide elections, including those for president. Their majorities will narrow in states where they’re acting like authoritarians. We’ll see more episodes like the one in Tennessee and more elections like the one for Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Republicans like to crow that blue states like California and New York are losing population to traditionally red states like Texas and North Carolina. However, as David Brooks points out, those people are moving to progressive cities run by Democrats, not conservative ones run by Republicans. They may be leaving because taxes and regulations have gotten burdensome, but they are far more tolerant and far less religious than the modern GOP.
A backlash is brewing and it’s not going to be against the corruption of Donald Trump. It’s going to be the policies of people like DeSantis and Abbott. It might come as early as 2024. It might be a bit later, but Americans aren’t going to be governed by a party that stands in contrast with their values no matter how low taxes and regulations get.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
https://abc7.com/compton-arco-gas-station-looting-los-angeles-county-vandalizing/13136901
IL/CA/PA/WA Just a very small sample.
https://katu.com/news/local/portlands-pearl-district-rei-to-close-due-to-record-crime-safety-concerns#
I was listening to a redneck ranting about how folks who move to North Carolina from other states should not be able to vote for seven years. Of course, a new resident can pay taxes, just has no say so in who represents him or her. Apparently, this individual was not taught or did not learn the reasons colonist revolted and toss the English Government out. Nor did he have a clear understanding of the constitutional principle of freedom of movement between states. Then there is this notion this country would not have developed into the world’s strongest democracy without immigration from within and without. These concepts are not difficult to comprehend as they are taught in elementary school.
They aren’t worried about elections or court challenges to authoritarian, racist, sexist legislation because they’ve packed the US Supreme Court. Once McConnell won that decades-long campaign, it was open season.
Ron DeFascist dreams of turning Florida into North Korea with palm trees. Good luck with those stupid abortion, gun fetish, and book banning policies. Florida produces some of the dumbest politicians who can’t even begin to appeal to a nationwide audience: JEB Bush, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, etc. Something in the water?
Thomas, too often Republicans have won elections while promoting the outrageous policies you mention. Our Lt Governor is an example of that. I doubt that your backlash will happen. I’m afraid the vocal, lunatic Republicans will support the candidates touting the horrible policies and the comparatively reasonable Republicans will also vote for the horrible candidates because they can’t bring themselves to vote for Democrats. I hope I’m wrong.
Here in North Carolina we have anti-gerrymandering laws in our state Constitution, however our courts don’t have enough good judges with sufficient backbone to enforce those laws against the General Assembly. Until we elect enough appellate judges with more integrity than what we have on the bench now, we will continue to have illegal gerrymandering in North Carolina.
Backlash just happened in Tennessee. The two reps were reinstated and they are passing gun safety legislation.
Remember you guys can always move to these enlightened places that have everything you want. Ironically, its these same places that everyone (about a million or so last year alone) are leaving.
So these places would LOVE TO HAVE YOU. And you would find it a lovely place to live being that you are 100% aligned with their values, aims, beliefs, and policies! And since all the moving vans are here Since they’ve all left “up there” You can rent them CHEAP since the companies need the vans back up there!
And they could use you money too, they are going broke since taxpayers are leaving
It literally Win-Win-Win!
What a stupid misleading and ill-informed rant. Why are there homeless people living in the streets of cities? Because Republicans have led in the de-funding and under-funding of mental-health facilities and treatment programs; because Republicans will not pass reasonable drug reforms and treatments centers; because Republicans will not support the construct of affordable housing; because Republicans do not support the programming needed to aid military veterans who have fought in America’s endless wars; because Republicans do not support minimum wages and health benefits for the essential workers in this country. Why are they shitting on the streets of our cities? – because they have no other place to live and Republicans do not give a shit about them! And, name me a city that has actually defunded the police!
New York cut funding, Seattle cut funding, Portland cut funding. Cutting funding is “de funding” the police. Cutting a budget is ok. But at the time in some of these places it was just done for optics while also demonizing the police and driving them away, All while you have everything else I mentioned going on,
All it yielded was a smile and wave police force. and All sorts of lawlessness.
I just want my party to regain its brains again, put aside emotion and think carefully and stop paying attention to the mob.
Its a bad look.
Fortunately NC has not fallen for it.
Its been found that those moving out of the poorly run cities and states and to properly run cities and states are pretty angry at having to move at all. Who can blame them
Thus they are angry with dimwit, brain-dead, Democrat policies and reject the Democrat party as a result. I mean it did ruin their lives after all.
Just look at the places they left. Open air drug dens, homeless all over the sidewalks, in front of businesses and homes. And whoa to you if you ask them to move or they are off their recreational drug of choice or didn’t take their prescription! They defecate in public, right on the doormat to your home. and have mental health break downs in traffic. Throw Trash every where, and some areas are so bad the trash service will not go there without the police and police will not go there! That is If there is any police after the Oh so marvelous “defund/disband the police movement” Guess what? The police have moved to where they are appreciated! I guess the brilliant enlightened oh so educated liberals didn’t see that coming?
All this occurs on a daily basis. Its a lot to put up with, and have the pleasure of paying high taxes to boot. And we’ve not gotten to schools as well ANTFIA, roaming shoplifting gangs petty crime simple assaults just for laughs etc…
Then add. Democrat District attorneys who refuse to do their job and reward lawlessness, and punish the victim!
Its so stupid it as to be on purpose. Not even Democrats are this dumb.Well at least they weren’t at some point. It obvious they appear to be now.
Fortunately for NC it appears the “mind virus” has not infected too badly our democrats here. Fortunately if they are infected we are safe as they are out of power. But given how they react to most things (Vitrol, unhinged screeching and intolerance, insults) We may have an infection. Hopefully the NC legislature can inoculate the state to keep the infected away. Better yet pass polices to repel them!
All I have to say to the Democrats fleeing NY, IL, CT, MD, CA, WA, OR etc. and arriving in NC.
Remember you are a refugee, not a missionary. Your brain dead moronic voting destroyed where you used live. Don’t repeat it here. And we don’t care or want to know anything about how you did it over there. Over there sucks, its why you left. Leave it there.
Other than that. Welcome.
You’re watching too much right wing tv
I don’t watch TV at all. Waste of time.
Well, well, the Republican Welcome Wagon speaketh!
Send us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…as long as you think, speak, worship, and vote the way we do or stay the HELL out!!! Oh yeah, it’ll probably help if you look like us too.
It’s amazing what some people think and then say when the tin foil hat falls off.
You know who else defecated in public? The Trumpanzees who rioted at the US Capitol.
Ringle seems not to know that you cannot have a noun modifying a noun – it is Democratic Party and Democratic DAs.
I am just joking. But instead of on public property (the capitol) it should have been on the majority and minority leader desks, so the statement goes directly to who is at fault for most of the stupidity going on in the country,
Nah Who are kidding? Those guys are so far above it all, nothing they do really affects them so even that gesture would be wasted.
I was born and raised here, raised my family here, and would leave in a second except that I still believe there’s a way to save my home state from people like you. You are nothing more than an ignorant trash talking racist pig who will vote against your own interests because the scum you follow have convinced you you’re voting against the interest of the other half. You’ve been screwed over and got nothing to say but “Thank you sir may I have another?” You’d burn your own house down if it meant your liberal neighbor had to choke on the smoke for 30 seconds. And I’m happy to let you do it, but do not ever dare talk like you speak for anybody but yourself. Just another book burning fascist like every other conspiracy theorist GQP dumbass in MAGA Land.
lol, Born and raised here. I just remember when Democrats weren’t so messed up.
Maybe someday they will be normal again.
Since you’re just joking then. Just for fun, what is that notion of normal that permeates your memory so well? Besides myself, I’m sure there are a few others here that would simply be in awe of it.
So, dazzle us. Just for fun.
I think a democrat from the 1970s maybe even the 1960s. Would sum it up well. I recall them being really for the little guy, not at all the corporate shills they have become.
That party had more diversity of thought then the current one. It also actually liked the USA and its people. Particularly it worked very hard the working class blue collar guys.
Now it seems the democratic party hates the USA and insults the working class as losers, Idiots, simpletons, rubes, racists and bigots.
Its why those families voted for Trump they were insulted continually and made to feel unwelcome in the Democrat party. So they left.
The party then was saner and more reasoned then now.
So maybe again we can have a democrat party that loves the country and the people in it.
That’s actually not bad Ring. I share some of your disdain and for the same reasons.
I think we’d need to drop the racism from your model that was known to exist at that time though. Otherwise, yeah. The working classes need a champion and they aren’t going to find it in hiring a lobbyist.
But that change you speak of, the idealistic model you seek, needs to come from the party. It needs to be proliferated by the powers of the party. It’s not a class war, but it is class division and it is how we find ourselves grouped. If you have the coins, you can live anywhere you want, regardless of your race. The white working class has yet to figure that out.
tres bien!