The Republican Party anticipated making significant gains in both chambers of Congress during the most recent midterm elections. Political pundits from all over the nation predicted everything from a red wave to a red tsunami. When all was said and done, there was neither.
The Republican crimson tsunami ended up being nothing more than a red trickle in the end. With the kinds of results anticipated, only well-known conservative candidates Marco Rubio and the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis prevailed. The floundering Stacey Abrams was overpowered by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
There were still held other distinctly Republican strongholds. The red wave did, however, sadly fade away. Many conservative strategists were searching for explanations as disappointing results started to pour in, wondering why a party couldn't overcome the historically low approval ratings of a bad president.
Maybe it’s because of the lackluster approval ratings of a former president? Ever since the 2020 presidential election ended, the stock of President Trump has gradually started to fall. Much of his decline is of his own making.
While there is massive evidence of election improprieties during the most recent presidential election, most Americans have moved on. The American voter wants to know what their elected officials are going to do for them today. Voters are living in the now, not the past.
This single issue seems to elude the successful former president. No one is denying that President Trump’s policies are popular with a vast number of Americans. However, there are other aspects of his personality that they are not enamored with.
One is President Trump’s apparent reluctance to become a team player. This is no longer about an individual person being the face of a political ideology. This is about battling a radically progressive push for big-government socialism.
If the conservative core of America doesn’t bond together, U.S. democracy is going to fall. This is not a half-baked conspiracy theory. It’s happening right before our eyes. Still holding a firm grip on the core base of the Republican Party, President Trump could prove invaluable.
But to date, he has not. In fact, many of his endorsed candidates for critical congressional offices failed miserably. There is a strong sense that President Trump’s presence once again cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate.
Through sheer good fortune, it appears that there will be a slim Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The margin is going to be slim, again, because many Trump-endorsed candidates were beaten.
In almost every location where a President Trump–endorsed candidate lost, there was a more moderate option who should have been the party’s nominee. These more appealing candidates would have seized on Joe Biden’s terrible approval ratings and abysmal policies.
They did not. Consequently, Republicans failed to take advantage of huge advantages. Another key reason for many losses is being blamed on where campaign funding went or who decided to spend it. President Trump appears to have failed miserably here as well.
Many insist that President Trump’s misguided endorsements and spotty financial assistance cost the Republican Party heavily in the 2022 midterms. Some believe he sabotaged Republican midterm momentum.
In Georgia, where one President Trump-endorsed candidate is still alive, outside groups outspent the former president in supporting Herschel Walker by 95 percent. Super PACs can spend a limitless amount on independently supported candidates.
President Trump’s “Make America Great Again, Inc.” is such a super PAC. Walker could have benefited from better financial support. There might not be a runoff. Republican Brian Kemp obliterated Stacey Abrams for governor, but Walker actually lost to Raphael Warnock.
The Daily Wire reported,
Trump’s Super PAC spent $3.4 million backing Herschel Walker in the general election that culminated Tuesday in neither Walker nor incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock topping 50% of the vote, necessitating a December 6 runoff. While Trump’s endorsement helped the former NFL great secure the Republican nomination, the spending amounted to less than 5% of the $72 million that outside groups spent helping Walker in the general election, according to a Daily Wire analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
Now compare that to what he spent OPPOSING Brian Kemp:
Trump showed a willingness to spend more freely in Georgia when it came to opposing certain Republicans. Save America’s largest candidate-related expenditures were in the Peach State, including $4.4 million spent on groups that opposed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the primary. That money was ultimately wasted as Kemp prevailed and went on to easily win re-election with 53.4% of the vote – 5% more than Walker, his fellow Republican on the same ticket.
Now, there is a second runoff in the last two election cycles in Georgia. It shouldn’t be happening. Likewise, close losses in Arizona and Nevada shouldn’t have happened. More financial support from President Trump could have pushed Walker across the goal line.
But it didn’t happen. With control of the U.S. Senate now lost after another Trump-endorsed senate candidate was defeated in Arizona, how much attention will Walker receive? The pending events of the 2024 election should not be ignored.
Walker’s victory could set the stage for critical U.S. Senate races in 2024. If a Republican nominee can retake the White House, holding control of both houses of Congress will prove critical. It is the single most direct route to restoring the country back to health.
But what happens in Georgia will tell another story. It will reveal whether President Trump is a “team player.” The former president claims to love his country. There’s no reason to believe he isn’t being honest. But that proclamation is going to be tested.
The next two weeks need to be about one runoff battle for the U.S. Senate. It’s more critical than people may realize. It’s time to put party values above personal ambitions. Where will President Trump’s allegiance be? It will prove more telling than any campaign speech.
