It's déjà vu for the anti-Trump wing of the Republican Party: Donald Trump is going to be the GOP nominee again. Some might be reaching for a crack cocaine pipe, a la Hunter Biden, to cope with this reality. As this phony war of a primary season ends, it's time to take stock and re-evaluate.
There was never a shot that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could have made the inroads necessary to beat the former president. Trump's grip on the GOP base was too tight, partially because tens of millions still think the issues surrounding the 2020 election went unresolved. That feeling of being cheated during that election, whether legitimate or not, is an endless supply of fuel that motivates base voters in these hyper-partisan days. The average GOP voter doesn't hate DeSantis, but Trump is someone they can't move away from just yet. In South Carolina, Senator Tim Scott is the most popular politician in the state, though its voters opted overwhelmingly to give Trump another try for high office. And now, with Trump primed to sweep Super Tuesday, the Trump skeptics are reeling again.
There are some arguments from this side that I can respect vis-a-vis Trump's legal baggage. The "he's not a conservative" argument is long dead. His past party registration should only elicit a shoulder shrug; Reagan was a Democrat. And businesspeople can, should, and do support both parties. I had some qualms about the legal issues facing the former president. Many resources are going to be diverted to pay these monstrous legal bills. Then again, there's not much we can do about it—the voters have spoken.
If Trump is indicted, will that change how these voters think about the former president? Not really:
If Donald Trump is convicted by a jury for inciting the Capitol riots of January 6th, who would you vote for president?
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) February 26, 2024
Trump 54% (+8)
Biden 46%
.
“If Donald Trump is convicted by a jury
for RICO in trying to influence the 2020
election results in Georgia”:
Trump 52% (+4)
Biden… https://t.co/fLfZ9h6IMX pic.twitter.com/Jl3ZUm2m30
It is interesting how voters respond to the classified document scandals of both Biden and Trump. We've been told by Special Counsel Robert Hur, Democrats, and the liberal media that these are not the same cases and that Trump's alleged mishandling was worse than the current president's. Voters don't see it that way.
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Trump isn't going away because the base is sick of the Bush-Romney-McCain-Haley class of politicians. They don't want "principled" per se. They want results. Trump won the Republican nomination again despite being opposed to a core Republican tenet: the reform of our entitlement system. If more traditional conservatives are aghast, maybe they should have focused on winning. Their side picked two candidates, McCain and Romney, that got waxed by Democrats. Nikki Haley tried to retake the party this year and failed miserably. Many have taken the hint and dropped out. Haley remains ignorant that her time ran past a decade ago.
Trump's personality turns people off, but things have deteriorated so severely that voters might be open to tolerating it and accepting responsibility for ushering a return of the hallmark bluster and colorful personality Trump embodied at 1600 Penn. If voters see results, they're willing to tolerate a lot. Former President Bill Clinton has credible allegations of rape against him but left office with an approval rating in the high-60s. Part of that is due to GOP overreach during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Still, Slick Willy oversaw a healthy economic boom, creating over 22 million jobs, and the average household income increased by almost $7,000. That's how someone accused multiple times of rape can get elected twice. Hell, not to get into the academics here, but given power dynamics regarding consent, it's clear that Lewinsky, a lowly intern at the time, couldn't truly consent when the president of the United States was asking stuff of her, which is rape.
As it was in 2016, in 2024, GOP voters don't want a saint or someone who fits the Reagan conservative mold. Just win the election and get stuff done. Trump did that during his presidency; hopefully, he can do so again. White, wine-drinking, suburbanite women who love abortion can only do so much when every key voter bloc in the Democratic base is depressed, thanks to Joe.
