WAPO OP ED: Republicans have tied themselves to an anvil

[lindysalsagal]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/16/republicans-tied-themselves-an-anvil/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=600&h=399

by Jennifer Rubin Columnist Feb. 16, 2021 at 7:45 a.m. EST

The decision should have been easy: Do you want to stick by an overwhelmingly unpopular former president who potentially has both civil and criminal liabilities, or do you want a fresh start for a party in need of new ideas? Republicans, remarkably, chose the former.

Quinnipiac’s most recent poll highlights the Republicans’ dilemma. By a 75 percent to 21 percent margin, Republicans “would like to see [former president Donald Trump] play a prominent role in the Republican Party.” However, overall, “Americans say 60-34 percent that they do not want Trump to play a prominent role in the Republican Party.” Even worse: “A majority of Americans, 55-43 percent, say Trump should not be allowed to hold elected office in the future. Republicans say 87-11 percent that Trump should be allowed to hold elected office in the future.”

Republicans are bound to a figure who is toxic and utterly unacceptable to a significant majority of the country. Republicans in 2022 will be tied to him or will rush to embrace him, rendering candidates repugnant outside of deep-red areas. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) might like to distance himself from the disgraced former president, but after saving Trump from conviction, it will be difficult to disentangle the party from the man who instigated a violent coup, no matter what McConnell said on the Senate floor after voting to acquit him.

Acquittal was a stunningly self-destructive move for a party that cannot now move beyond a villainous figure. Republicans might want to root for investigations into the former president, since they obviously lack the nerve to get him out of their party on their own.

[woodsprite]

1. Anvil, short rope, Mariana Trench.... nt

[WhiteTara]

8. yes

[sdfernando]

12. I like your thinking! /nt

[BeerBarrelPolka]

2. I'm not getting it

From the article: "Do you want to stick by an overwhelmingly unpopular former president"

Trump is anything but overwhelmingly unpopular.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. From Gallup, January 18th

Trump Leaves on a Personal Low Note
The 34% job approval rating for Trump in Gallup's Jan. 4-15 poll is one point lower than his prior lowest single rating, registered on several occasions in late 2017.
...The total 12-point drop in approval for Trump after the election is especially notable in that most departing presidents -- including two who were defeated for a second term -- enjoyed increases in job approval ratings between the time of the election to choose their successor and his inauguration. On average, "lame duck presidents" before Trump saw a seven-point increase in job approval.

66% disapproval seems overwhelmingly unpopular to me.

[BeerBarrelPolka]

13. I see that

But I'm just not buying into that poll. 74 million voted for him. I'm not trying to argue with you so please don't take it that way.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. And, Then January 6 Happened

First, while 74 million is a lot, it's under 48%.
Then, in nearly every poll (except the willfully flawed Rasmussen) the approval rating fell by 3-6 points in the month after the election.
Then, after 1/6 approval fell another 6-9 points.
Pew had him at 29% on January 15.
Perhaps you're so focused on November 3rd numbers that you're forgetting what happened to the opinion of him since them. But, at this point I think it's fair to describe him as overwhelmingly unpopular.

[lagomorph777]

15. 81 million voted against him.

So that aligns with the number who want to see him banned from future office.

[PSPS]

16. He's popular with "GOP voters" who comprise about 30% of voters. Primary, yes. General, never.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Yes, I am imaging a bridge over a frozen pond, and the republicans are standing on the

rails of the bridge, looking down at the frozen water...jump! Jump! Jump!

Maybe they'll destroy themselves with the ignorant things that they say and do finally.

[Ohiogal]

4. They really don't want to get him out of their party

Because, save for a few apostates, the GOP *is* Trump. Racist, mean-spirited, unpatriotic.

[uponit7771]

6. THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾, they no longer believe in what the constitution stands for. Eisenhower would be

... hated right now in the kGOP

[uponit7771]

5. K&R, its only an avil if democracy media can get a coordinated message out

[ariadne0614]

7. There's one variable that allows them not to care about the majority.

I believe they’re counting on the weaponized virus of gerrymandering/voter suppression that they’ve been ruthlessly deploying since they took down the Voting Rights Act.

[lindysalsagal]

10. or you might be giving them too much credit. I don't see strategy anymore. Only desperation.

I think the GQP is basically immobilized. They created this frankenstein monster and now they're at its mercy.

[ariadne0614]

18. I hope you're right, but. . .

I’d be interested to know why I shouldn’t be concerned about things like this, among other nefarious deeds:

Republicans are going all-out to limit voting rights. We know why | Republicans | The Guardian

“A new report from the Brennan Center for Justiceshows just how effectively Republicans have been talking out of both sides of their mouths, at once decrying the violence over false allegations of election rigging, and at the same time using false allegations of voter fraud to make it harder for people to vote. In 2021 legislative sessions (which six states haven’t even yet begun), lawmakers in 28 states have pushed a whopping 106 bills that would restrict voting access – and we’re not even a month into the year. According to the Brennan Center, that’s three times the number of restrictive voting laws that were introduced by 3 February last year. These laws are clearly responsive to widespread conspiracy theories on the right – conspiracy theories started by the Republican party and the former president.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/30/republicans-restrict-voting-access-bills

(Credit to Thom Hartmann’s Daily Stack)

[gibraltar72]

9. Handcuffed to a dead hooker!

[peggysue2]

17. I think the albatross draped around their necks is because Trump's corruption is their corruption

They're tied to the wannabe mobster because they served, helped orchestrate and vowed fidelity to all the rotten Trumpian maneuvers. This is what they wanted, this is what they got.

But accountability?

They certainly don't want to be held responsible or have the sunshine focus on their own wrong-doings.

And so they continue to dance with the creature they created for fear of their own political demise.

Or to put it succinctly: We weren't sent here to have a conscience. We weren't sent here to do the right thing.