It is quickly becoming an amusing dose of karma that the loudmouthed and acerbic crowd of GOP purists who boldly declared they hated President Trump now find themselves bereft of a home after they have gotten their way. This cabal of cranks has spent years declaring themselves the noble warriors battling a scourge against their ideals, and now that the election result they insisted upon has been delivered they are encountering a problem.
Nobody wants them.
When former RNC chairman and current Never Trump minion Michael Steele came out last month to state they had plans for how to reconstitute the Republican Party his plea was met with little more than eye rolls from the GOP. When the pyromaniacs who burned down the barn come forward to state they will be there to help rebuild it the normal reaction is to chase them off the property with buckshot.
There were signs these distempered and ill-mannered scolds were flailing about just after the election, and now in just one month they appear as a scattered and desperate lot. Immediately following the voting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated The Lincoln Project had been ineffectual and should fork over its donations and grant them to black activist groups who actually delivered results. Ilhan Omar lashed out at TLP member Rick Wilson over past comments he made towards Muslims. It was clear the NT faction was not being warmly embraced by the left, a predictable result.
Wilson has looked to branch out with his brand of vulgarian punditry, seemingly recognizing the diminishing influence of the conservative opposition outlet The Bulwark, where he contributed. Wilson has joined The Daily Beast as an editor (where seemingly he set up shop because they allow profanity in his headlines) but his arrival there was greeted with a curious admonition of his Lincoln Project PAC. The Beast reported on a study conducted by a major Democratic party PAC on how effective highly touted anti-Trump campaign ads from the Lincoln Project had been on swaying the minds of voters. It was ugly.
Despite all of the boosting they received in the press, and all of the ginned up excitement seen on social media, the ads were shown to ultimately have a negative influence on changing minds. The most popular spots from TLP actually were discovered to have the least influence. This was revealed in the election; despite their avowed efforts Trump received a huge increase in votes, and while raising his support by ten million votes over 2016 returns the backing by GOP voters also rose, from 90 percent to 94 percent.
One of the loudest grousers out of this pack has been MSNBC fixture Steve Schmidt. The man still clings to the mantle of "GOP strategist" although his electoral track record is not one he should invite people to look into. Last weekend Schmidt sent out a pathetic appeal to AOC, pleading with her to work together, all while belittling her as a server by claiming the Lincoln Project boys were the types who tip waitresses 50 percent. (This part is easily believable since they have proven adept at spending other people’s money.)
When AOC never gave Schmidt the strokes he desperately looked for, days later he came out to declare that he was now moving to the Democratic Party. This announcement was less shocking than if Vlad Putin came out to declare he was going to endorse Stoli Vodka. After years of promoting Democrats and left-wing policies Schmidt’s suggested exodus has been followed by other figures. Staffer at The Bulwark Tim Miller made his own announced departure, and co-founder of TLP, Jennifer Horn, bravely took to the airwaves of MSNBC to state that after years of battling the GOP she was leaving the GOP.
To go along with these figures acting like evicted tenants pledging not to send Christmas cards there is Bill Kristol, who has appeared like a doddering shopper at a mall who forgot where he parked the car. Kristol this week made the attempt to promote the concept of forming a third political party, and the result could not have been more dismal. His proposal was to come up with The Owl Party as a centrist alternative and he nearly broke his nose, stumbling so magnificently. Once he realized there has already been a satirical Owl Party - one that stood for Out With Logic - he wavered on his cause, and once he was met with complete apathy it was mere hours later when he had abandoned his plan entirely.
Max Boot is another who faces a steep challenge, given for years he has done little more than insist how much he opposes Trump. Many have lost count on how many times he has essentially written the same column, declaring his distaste for the man and insisting people vote for Democrats and Biden. Now that his four-year effort has concluded the man will need to become creative -- or just continue his method by providing retrospectives on his contempt for the former president.
To get a window into what these contrarians are facing we can follow Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark and co-founder of the anti-Trump Republicans for the Rule of Law as well as Republicans Voting Against Trump. Sarah says their next tasks are rebuffing Trump on the election challenges and then support any Republicans who break with Trump or who work with Democrats.
In other words these allegedly "True Conservatives" declare they will continue what they have been doing for years -- acting like Democrats and supporting left-wing agendas. They will do this all the while telling others on the Right how they are not truly conservative. As they wander off into the political wilderness these pariahs will not be missed by anyone in conservative circles.