Let's assume the Republican Party, as is its wont, decides to do what it traditionally does and make the worst possible decision. Let's assume it re-elects Ronna McDaniel Chair of the Republican National Committee. We talked about the case for Ronna in my previous column and found there is none, but the subject of the GOP's choice to flip off its base is important enough to talk about again. And I am speaking to the 168 Republican National Committee members directly. Folks, nothing less than the future direction of the Republican Party is at stake. Are we moving forward to victory in 2024 or treading water in a reeking cesspool of failure?
We will know on January 27, when the RNC members will meet at a Waldorf Astoria in California to choose between accomplished Republican attorney and GOP veteran Harmeet Dhillon (you can help her at www.HireHarmeet.com) and the aforementioned five-time election loser Ronna McDaniel. It is a secret ballot, and the numbers have been moving Harmeet's way. Ronna's strategy has been to make this seem like a done deal, assisted by a regime media eager to have someone so manifestly unable to win at the helm of the GOP. Before Harmeet announced, when it seemed like no one would run against Ronna and the consultant corps, a bunch of the committee members signed a letter supporting her. Why not? There was no competition. But now, with Harmeet in the race, a bunch of those members have walked their endorsements back – many publicly but a lot privately. They know, better than anyone, that the RNC, as currently constituted, is utterly outclassed and ineffective. They know that we must change or we will continue to lose.
Ronna gets credit for collecting about a billion bucks in donations. That's a nice number. But the Democrats collected more, and they have a better small donor base. Ronna rakes it in from the wealthy. But then, the wealthy will almost always pony up. That the money is from the Monocled Monopoly Men is because our small donors are totally disenchanted, not least by the miserable and intelligence-insulting texts Ronna has failed to rein in. You know the ones – "OUR RECORDS SHOW YOU HAVE FAILED TO DONATE $25! WHY ARE YOU SO DISLOYAL TO AMERICA?"
Hard to believe we are not all whipping out our MasterCharges. A billion bucks is nothing to sneer at – actually, the Democrats are laughing at it – but she's focused on rich guys. The question is not how much money she's raked in but how much she left on the table.
Have you given the RNC a cent? I bet you won't. Most of you are alienated by the obnoxious texts and emails, the refusal to be transparent with the finances, and the losing, losing, losing. With me, it's personal. In 2020, I lawyered after the election in Las Vegas (Harmeet did, too, elsewhere). Las Vegas was one of a half-dozen critical cities in winnable states where we knew the Democrat machines would be working overtime to execute their election shenanigans. In fact, Democrat lawyers had been there and elsewhere for months prepping the battlefield for election night. I got a desperate call the day after the election and drove out to Vegas to help. Guess how many lawyers Ronna had ensured were on the ground by the time I rolled in 24 hours after the election ended.
100?
50?
A dozen?
One? Not one, Kurt. That would be crazy.
One.
Actually, it was a bit more – he had his dog along. And he was a great lawyer. But there was one of him. And that was on Ronna, though she denies responsibility. Remember, nothing is her fault. You can't blame her for not getting it done – she was only in charge. Now send money.
Fast-forward to 2022. Did that look like the RNC's legal forces were adequately deployed and ready to win? Governor Lake, what are your thoughts on that?
Lose once, GOP? Shame on you. Lose twice? Shame on you again. Lose three times? What the hell are you people thinking re-electing someone who keeps blowing it?
Look, 2024 is pretty important to me and probably to you because our country is in danger of total degeneration into a woke commie nightmare. This is not the time to do the business-as-usual thing. Business-as-usual is some dude in a dress in a public school teaching your little girl that her pronouns are they/them. It's a border that is wide open. It is masking forever and free money for deadbeats until we go bankrupt.
It is time to get serious. How can Ronna McDaniel lead? How do we face our voters and say, "This five-time loser is the best we can do…ta-da!"
The people who make up the party want her gone. I did a bunch of Twitter polls on her, unscientific but still instructive. On January 17, I asked, "We are about a week away from when the Republicans go to the Waldorf Astoria in Dana Point, California – which is super in-touch in light of their recent failure – to elect a new GOP chair. Who do you think that GOP chair should be?"
The answer?
96.2% for Harmeet Dhillon.
1.8% for Ronna.
That seems pretty conclusive. And what is the consequence of ignoring the people? On January 19, I asked, "If 0-5 loser Ronna @GOPChairwoman McDaniel is rewarded for her failure by a fourth term after three unsuccessful ones, what do you predict for the Republican Party?" Here is what 1,395 people said:
"Massive success in 2024!" – 2.8%
"D/not matter who runs GOP" – 6.3%
"We will lose in 2024 too" – 68.5%
"I don't care - I'll quit" – 22.4%
Terrific. About 6.3% are already totally demoralized. Another two-thirds think we will lose the next election, and about a quarter plan to check out of the GOP if she is reelected. And another 2.8% apparently get high before they read my tweets.
We cannot do this again.
Here's an alternative. We can choose to win.
Harmeet promises to fix the finances. She will audit the RNC – now you know why they are desperate to stop her. She knows the legal problems and can get the lawfare forces ready for the 2024 fight. Donations? She can not only reel in the big fish but inspire the minnows who, together, make the real difference. And you have seen her on Tucker and everywhere else both over the years and during this RNC race (Ronna is focusing on lobbying the 168 insider committee members, which is telling). Harmeet can message. Her whole job as a trial lawyer is to message. Of course, Ronna is afraid of debating Harmeet. Hell, I'm a really good lawyer, and debating her scares me. And I don't even have to defend an unbroken track record of failure like Ronna does.
Harmeet's the one. She's got the plan. She's got the energy. She's got the new blood. And she's tough, scoffing at the tacky attacks on her religion and the various slanders fired at her by her opponents. We need someone who can fight. We need someone who can win.
Electors, take note. How will Ronna motivate the people you ignored if you re-elect her? It's ironic that if Ronna were to win this RNC Chair race, her sole election victory while in that position would be to defeat the very Republican voters who she expects to dial phones, knock on doors, and open their thin wallets for the GOP in 2024.
They won't if you electors choose the status quo.
Let's break the cycle of failure.
Let's choose victory.
Elect Harmeet.
Follow Kurt on Twitter @KurtSchlichter. Get Inferno, the seventh book in the Kelly Turnbull People's Republic series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, as well as his non-fiction book We'll Be Back: The Fall and Rise of America.
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