The Republican Party has a split personality. On one side are the small donors and committed volunteers who compose the grassroots. These are the people who are real conservatives, engaged and enthusiastic.
In recent years, this group has been staunchly in support of President Donald Trump. This is the “MAGA” movement, which wants to “Make America Great Again” and to put “America First.” These activists are the ones who attend Trump rallies and participate on conservative talk radio and contact Congress on critical issues.
The other wing of the Republican Party hates these folks. This group is known as the “country club” Republicans, the moderate, establishment wing of the party. This group is represented by the Bush family, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and the late U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona.
The moderates also are firmly in control of the party’s leadership positions. This includes the Chairwoman of the Republican Party, Ronna Romney McDaniel, and most of the state party leaders. True conservatives view this wing as the “RINO’s” or Republicans in Name Only.
Over the past fifty years, the establishment wing of the party has been dominant. However, there have been two major exceptions who served as President of the United States. Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
These Presidents were real conservatives, focused on “America First” policies and less interested in starting wars overseas and sending our military to foreign countries. Both Trump and Reagan cut taxes and enjoyed strong economic growth in the country.
While the party split was apparent during the Reagan presidency, it really was in the forefront during the Trump administration. He initially enraged the establishment wing by winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination after defeating a string of more moderate candidates, such as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Florida Jeb Bush, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Some of the Republican opponents became afflicted with the political disease known as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” They hated the President so much that they became “Never Trumpers.”
After his 2016 election victory, some of these Republicans eventually decided to reluctantly support President Trump. Incredibly, others remained in steadfast opposition and started groups such as the “Lincoln Project,” which is so hostile to President Trump that it will support Democratic candidates running against Republicans aligned with the “MAGA” agenda.
As we approach the 2022 midterm elections, there is a battle for the soul of the Republican Party. GOP voters have a major decision facing them. Do they support candidates aligned with Trump or ones who espouse a more moderate agenda?
Among U.S. Senate Republican candidates, the ones championing a big government, globalist agenda are aligned with the party’s establishment. These candidates have the support of U.S Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will likely be the Majority Leader if Republicans win back control of the Senate.
McConnell has been in the U.S. Senate for decades. He represents the “old guard” who believes in working within the system, often in collaboration with Democrats. Trump derisively calls him “Old Crow” and has little patience for his tactics. Trump was especially incensed after McConnell viciously attacked him in the aftermath of the January 6th protests.
On the House side, if Republicans have a majority after the midterm elections, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is poised to become the next Speaker. He is another establishment Republican, who has been a member of Congress for many years.
McCarthy will attain this position even though he was taped after the January 6th protests calling for President Trump’s removal from office. He also was recorded on phone conversations advocating that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and other conservatives be removed from social media.
McCarthy’s upcoming victory as House Speaker was guaranteed when Trump expressed no interest in running for the position. He also continued to back McCarthy despite the publication of his controversial phone calls. Even though McCarthy wanted Trump removed, the President continues to support him for House Speaker.
Unfortunately, there are no House conservatives ready to challenge McCarthy for the position of Speaker. The only potential opponent, U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), announced he will support McCarthy for House Speaker next year.
Here is the problem, if Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections it will be due to the outpouring of support from conservative, “MAGA,” Trump voters. Trump voters dominate the base of the GOP and will vote in substantial numbers in November. The establishment wing is powerful within the GOP leadership, but not among average Republican voters.
Unfortunately, these enthused Republican Party activists will soon face tremendous disillusionment if the congressional GOP leaders, McConnell, and McCarthy, refuse to take bold action in 2023.
Once in control, congressional Republican leaders need to immediately launch impeachment hearings against President Joe Biden. There should also be demands that Biden submit to a mental competency test.
Most importantly, if entrusted with power, congressional Republicans need to pursue an extremely aggressive conservative agenda. If not, there will be significant disappointment among the GOP base.
In 1994 and 2010, Republicans won landslide victories and returned to power in the Congress. Thereafter, party leaders were too timid with their newfound authority and did not achieve the type of legislative victories their voters were expecting.
The result was that conservatives were outraged and became irritated with the GOP. They were not energized so conservative candidates lost the party’s presidential nomination in the next election cycle.
Thus, moderates, U.S. Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) in 1996 and Romney in 2012 won the Republican Party presidential nominations. These candidates subsequently lost to the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
This political history should serve as a sobering lesson for Republican voters this year. It is not enough to take over the Congress. Real conservatives or “MAGA” voters want a bold political agenda to be pursued.
If not, the Republican Party will suffer the same fate in 2024 which it did in 1996 and 2012 and lose the presidency to the Democrats once again.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs weekdays nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network, AmericasVoice.Newsfrom 6-7 a.m. CT and from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at [email protected]
It is not enough to take over the Congress. Real conservatives or “MAGA” voters want a bold political agenda to be pursued.
If not, the Republican Party will suffer the same fate in 2024 which it did in 1996 and 2012 and lose the presidency to the Democrats once again.
RINOs best head this warning….
“Any rational person with a child knows and teaches their children about the world through binary options: up or down, hot or cold, big or little, inside or outside, wet or dry, good or bad, boy or girl, man or woman.”
Republican Party – Good
Democrat Party and “country club” Republican RINOs – BAD
Just look at what Republicans basically approve of and what they disapprove of.
Just look at what Democrats and their RINOs basically approve of and what they disapprove of.
To fully advance the Lying, Treasonous, Demonic, Socialist Democrat Party’s destructive beliefs and agendas: is to divide our citizens with hate and promote – racism, open borders, radical feminism, abortion-on-demand, the LGBTQ lifestyle, unfettered sexual identity, transgender, gay marriage, child indoctrination into sexual confusion and the like, the pagan Liberal left Democrats must do away with GOD, our Constitution, common sense, morality, Christian values and free religious exercise altogether.
(unless it is the Democrat Party Satanic demonic cult)
Under the Disguise of “anti-discrimination.”
ITS the voters, that need to heed that warning!! LEST WE get more rinos voted back in!
Exactly what we of the grass roots, who’ve felt mown over by the groundskeepers of the country club, have known for a long time. Candidates who inspired were crushed by the system during the primaries and never got a chance to run, then we held our noses to vote in the hope a Democrat wouldn’t win not that the Republican deserved it. In the 2020 election the elite of the party had more in common with Democrats than with the voters, we saw the results! Politics is no longer for the Republican country club set, it’s no longer golf and croquet, it’s a hard dirty business played by liberal rules these days.
Absolutely—because we are losing greatness at an alarming rate.
“The Republican Party has a split personality. On one side are the small donors and committed volunteers who compose the grassroots.” ,,the other are establishment well-heeled and well positioned RINO’s who mow the grassroots to make their personal properties worth more. The former want to make America Great Again, which makes the entire world a greater and safer place to live. The latter only want to make themselves and their establish political crime families great and powerful forever, who bring debt financed wars that make the world unsafe with no place to hide except behind the guarded walls of the rich and powerful political elite. Sharing power is not part of their agenda, but controlling the power and THE PEOPLE is just as important to them as to the Democrats, with the exception of the few DINO’s (Democrat in name only) who remember what it was to be a United, not divided America where split personalities were not considered the new normal, but aberrations to be avoided.