The Grievances of Trump Past - WSJ Editorial
(Yes, the WSJ, not with glee but with lament, still interesting)
That great sigh of relief you heard on Sunday was the sound of Democrats and the media welcoming Donald Trump’s return to public attention with his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. As for Republicans and Mr. Trump, the future isn’t as clear as the press and the former President would like. The CPAC crowd cheered his speech, which was largely a collection of greatest political hits. But if CPAC represented America, Mr. Trump would still reside in the White House, not Mar-a-Lago. He lost to Joe Biden, the old Democratic war horse, by seven million votes. He also lost five states he carried in 2016, even Georgia.
That’s the cold GOP reality as the former President seeks to dominate the party from exile and tease a 2024 comeback. Mr. Trump boasted about his record vote total for an incumbent President, and he took credit for every GOP success down the ballot in 2020. We welcome the debate, but if 2020 was so fabulous, why are Republicans shut out of power up and down Pennsylvania Avenue?
(snip)
Republicans lost the House in 2018 as suburban voters fled to check Mr. Trump. He proceeded to lose the White House on Nov. 3, and he cost the GOP two Georgia Senate races on Jan. 5 as he made his claims of election fraud the main issue rather than checking Mr. Biden and Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Trump essentially told his Georgia supporters their votes didn’t matter, and many stayed home. The GOP lost the Senate.
Mr. Trump is now trying to rewrite this history as someone else’s fault—Democrats who cheated, Republicans who won’t “fight,” a cowardly Supreme Court that includes three of his appointees, anyone but himself. This isn’t true, as another Trump pollster, Anthony Fabrizio, made clear in his post-election analysis. Mr. Trump had one landmark victory in 2016 but he has cost the GOP dearly since.
Mr. Trump said Sunday that he won’t form a third party because it would divide the center-right coalition and elect Democrats. But he also laid out his political enemies list and is clearly bent on revenge against anyone who voted to impeach or convict him or disagrees with his election claims. These intra-party fights will sap GOP energy and resources when their priority now should be retaking Congress in 2022... As long as Republicans focus on the grievances of the Trump past, they won’t be a governing majority.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-grievances-of-trump-past-11614641726 (subscription)
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