In political circles, election season never truly ends. Even on election night, political insiders, staffers and candidates are looking towards the next cycle. GOP lost the presidency? On to the midterms. Picked up house seats in the midterms? On to the next election where the Senate map looks favorable!
This is fine to a degree, but the problem is that politics has become an industry. People get involved in politics to pick up a check. From staffers all the way down the line to bus drivers, politics is littered with people who treat it like a 9-5.
At the end of the day, nothing ends up happening. Why would it? Why would anyone want to threaten their job security? Saying controversial things or fighting for values might rock the boat too much, so the political industry often opts to not rock it at all.
This is clear as day in regards to the GOP, which has never been more out of touch with their voters.
The GOP recently tapped South Carolina Senator Tim Scott to deliver the response to Biden’s State of the Union address. Scott is far from the worst Republican in Congress, but he also isn’t the best. He is a former never-Trumper and has fed into leftist talking points about systemic racism. In his speech, Scott mentioned that he had spoken out against police brutality following last summer’s riots. Exactly what percentage of Trump’s base was looking for that?
In short, Tim Scott’s speech was emblematic of an increasingly feckless GOP. They have no intention of fighting, simply going along with the “good cop, bad cop” dynamic established by the uniparty. If the Democrats argue that America is a racist apartheid state, Republicans will argue that it kind of is, but that we’ve made progress. If the Democrats are pushing for transgender toddlers, the GOP will respond by showing support for transgender teenagers after previously refusing to support that.
The GOP will actually go a step further and play the left’s game in regards to identity politics. They think that running Caitlyn Jenner will win them votes because it shows how “tolerant” the GOP is. They think “Democrats are the real racists” framing is a winning strategy when really, they’re just embarrassing themselves.
For the political class, none of this really matters. At the end of the day, the checks will still be rolling in no matter what. Even as the GOP becomes an increasingly embarrassing clown car that represents nobody, employees of the machine will continue to get paid. Even if Tim Scott gets blown out in 2024, the people behind him will simply pivot to another milquetoast Republican and continue the racket.
All of these reasons are why conservatives should be fine with the political equivalent of tanking.
“Tanking” is a sports term that refers to franchises focusing on a rebuild rather than winning in the now. Teams do this because their prospects aren’t looking good, so they’re OK with losing for a couple seasons in hopes of getting better players in the draft down the line.
At this stage, conservatives should not be afraid of tanking. Even when President Trump was in office he was still throttled by every rung of the Washington bureaucracy. The wall was never finished, Trump’s supporters were doxxed and threatened and far left ideologues were able to hold the country hostage with pandemic rhetoric.
The idea of always having to support a Republican because they’re better is outdated. At this stage, I’d personally rather have a mask off commie in office as opposed to a weak kneed conservative. At least with the far left you know what you’re getting. They’re going to pursue their agenda at all costs and won’t think about the other side once while doing it. Meanwhile, week Republicans like Kevin McCarthy are always playing defense. Always validating leftist narratives, always groveling for approval from people who openly hate them.
If American Patriots want their country back, they have to make their votes matter. The GOP needs to understand that they can’t just dump slop on our plates and expect us to eat it. Not every Republican is worth supporting, and in some cases, it would be better to vote third party, if at all.
Of course many on the right will decry this mindset. They’ll say that we can’t let the Democrats win or use “lesser of two evils” terminology, but that is exactly how things got this bad.
Conservatives need to support candidates that are worthy of support, and that’s it. Get involved in local politics and build from there. Place true conservatives who will fight for their voters in county, state and federal government positions. No good candidate? Whatever, focus your time and energy on another race and hope for a better candidate next time.
Ultimately, there are millions of apolitical Americans. There are also plenty of liberals who know there is something deeply wrong with the country but don’t know where to direct their frustration. These voters can be won with a winning message; a message with teeth that actually stands in opposition to the radical left as opposed to just reacting to it. Politically tanking is a better option than filling the government with out of touch career politicians and bureaucrats. I’d rather lose in the short term to win in the long term, and anyone who truly cares about the direction of the country should agree.
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