Arizona Republican Meltdown - WSJ Editorial

[question everything]

Republicans lost Arizona in the November presidential race for the first time since 1996, and they have lost three U.S. Senate races in a row. How to respond? Naturally, Arizona’s Republican Party decided on the weekend to censure three of its most prominent . . . fellow Republicans.

The state party’s committee members, led by chairwoman Kelli Ward, passed resolutions rebuking Cindy McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain; former Sen. Jeff Flake; and even current Gov. Doug Ducey. The first two offended the members by endorsing Joe Biden over Donald Trump for President. Mr. Ducey’s offense is that he introduced pandemic lockdowns—though they were relatively modest compared to those in much of the country.

(snip)

Sensible parties that lose elections try to reunite in opposition even while they debate policy differences and examine why they lost. They don’t excommunicate people who could help rebuild a majority. Mr. Flake and Ms. McCain found Mr. Trump’s behavior as President unacceptable, but they were hardly alone. Mr. Trump didn’t lose because Republicans betrayed him. He lost because he alienated too many voters in Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona who liked his policies but disliked his tumultuous leadership.

The attack on Mr. Ducey is simply bizarre. The Governor has a strong conservative record and will finish his second term in 2022. Senate Republicans have been hoping to recruit him to run against newly elected Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who must run again in 2022 because he is filling former Sen. McCain’s uncompleted term. The GOP needs to win seats like this to regain the majority in what will be a tough 2022 Senate map. But why would Mr. Ducey run if his own party members are attacking him? Sure enough, he said this weekend he has no interest in running for the Senate.

(snip)

If Mr. Trump seeks revenge against anyone who voted to impeach him, or anyone who accepts Mr. Biden’s victory, he will split the party even if he doesn’t run for office again himself. If he forms a third party, he won’t win. But he would all but guarantee that Democrats keep the House and Senate in 2022 and the White House in 2024. If Republicans want to keep losing elections, they’ll keep fighting over 2020 and Donald Trump instead of looking to the future.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/arizona-republican-meltdown-11611526063 (subscription)

[Laelth]

1. .

-Laelth

[NeoGreen]

2. "Do not interfere when your enemy...

...is making a mistake."
Someone historic/famous

[Best_man23]

3. Art of War

[bamagal62]

5. This. Shhhhh. Don't tell them.

[brush]

7. Air Force vet?

[NeoGreen]

10. Yes...

1984 to 1988.

[blm]

4. Trump Republicans and their Cancel Culture.

👍🏽

[Cha]

6. Keep Digging Stupid

Bitter brainwashed Fascist Traitors.

[JT45242]

8. Nice to see circular firing squads on the other side

Hopefully, they will fracture their own party. Dems will be able to pass legislation and Republicans will be running on taking away fair pay, better health care, etc.

May their own stupidity and arrogance destroy themselves so that the country can move forward.

[Xipe Totec]

9. I would only add that Trump is still fighting about 2016, let alone 2020. nt

[BobTheSubgenius]

11. Here's hoping...

I used to play bridge tournaments. My partner and I never set the world - or even a neighbourhood on fire, but we were pretty good.

The most important play in a given hand is often the opening lead, then the response to that. When you sit and ponder that, and realize you are in bad shape, play the hand in such a way that you are giving your opponents a chance to make a mistake, instead of just playing the hand by rote and guarantee yourself a loss.

Your opponents may not even realize it's a mistake until later in the hand, but by then it's too late. It worked enough times to make it part of your toolkit.