After every political commentary post I publish I tell myself to back off...to give it a rest, but then I see or read something on the news that riles me and brings me to this keyboard like a magnet. This morning it was the 'progress' of the impeachment trial, and Nikki Haley's comments. I'll get back to her in a minute.
The impeachment trial is a farce. It's a beauty contest. It's nothing more than a platform for Senators to pontificate their outrage, hopefully seen by their constituents and leading to reelection in 2022. The trial outcome was known in advance. How many thousands of man-hours and dollars are being wasted on this straw hat and cane show?
The Republican Party as I see it now is rudderless and needs to choose a new path. The worst action the party could take would be to not distance itself from Trump. The second worst action would be to factionalize into splinter groups rather than uniting. There are signs that that is happening. Some examples:
The Lincoln Project has been around since November 2019 and was formed by Republicans seeking to prevent the reelection of Trump and those Republicans supporting him. As of late the group seems bent on self-destruction but still exists.
A recent Reuters news article reported that "dozens of the party faithful are in talks to form an anti-Trump third party. Two of the leaders, Evan McMullin, a former chief policy director for the House Republican Conference who ran for president in 2016 as an independent, and Miles Taylor, a former Trump administration Homeland Security official, told CBS News that that a decision on this has not been made yet. The discussions may also result in creating a faction within the GOP."
Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger from Illinois has started a PAC called Country First exhorting both Republicans and Democrats to abandon the extremism in both parties, and calling for the GOP to remember who they are and why they exist. Adam was censured by the Illinois Republican Party for voting to certify the electoral vote, but seems not to care, apparently acting out of conscious rather than ambition. I have subscribed to his newsletter, like what I'm seeing and will be watching him. It and he probably won't go anywhere but at least it is an attempt in the right direction.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and US ambassador to the UN broke with Trump, saying something about him going down the wrong path and that "we" were wrong to follow him. Did she suddenly have a startling revelation? She had to have seen where he was heading many months ago. And it was just a few short weeks ago that she campaigned for the Georgia Senators Perdue and Loffler, both of whom were nothing more than Trump hand puppets. Nikki has established a PAC (Stand for America PAC) for the stated purpose of helping those Republicans up for reelection in 2022. Something doesn't seem right to me. My guess is that she's betting that Trump will lose his luster and is setting herself up for a run at the presidency in 2024.
The only thing uniting the GOP now is opposition to the impeachment trial. After that, what? The Biden administration is working hard on typical liberal give-away programs, making the US a haven for illegal immigrants past and future, will probably listen to the American Civil Liberties Union's push for reparations as repentance for slavery and who knows what else. The Republican Party has got to stop the infighting. It's got to get off the Trump bandwagon. It has to get back to its roots and win back the Senate in 2022. And most importantly its got to find a viable candidate for President in 2024. A guy I like is Geoff Duncan, Georgia's Lieutenant Governor. He's only 45 with limited political experience, but is charismatic, has a strong presence, appears moderate in his thinking and seems to be a straight shooter. He won't be ready for 2024 but may be a player in the future.
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