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In this election cycle, it is the Republicans that are blowing it. [1]

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Date: 2022-09-21

Trump and his minions.

I have been a staunch Supporter of the Democratic Party for well over three decades. During that time, I’ve witnessed many political gaffes, strategic blunders, and political messaging missteps each election season. It seems that we Democrats have constantly been forced to defend ourselves against nonsensical issues like critical race theory, transgender bathroom considerations, and taking knees during the playing of our national anthem before sporting events. However, people aren’t talking about these topics anymore, and that is a good thing. Dwelling on these topics does not get Democrats elected. That is the reason why Republicans love to talk about these issues.

Republicans know full well that the omnipresence of Donald Trump in the current news cycle hurts their chances for the midterm elections in November. Trump simply refuses to go away. His ego simply won’t allow himself to be ignored. The Republican establishment, of course, knows this full well, but can do little to stop him.

The current legal situation with respect to this special master nonsense is ironic. Like many progressives, I was initially incensed at Judge Canon’s ill-informed, politically biased decision to appoint a special master to review the seized documents from Mar-a-Lago. I saw it as a win for Donald Trump, because the decision would allow Trump to delay things. I thought it would keep this illegally-held documents scandal out of the news.

The opposite has occurred. The appointment of Special Master Dearie and the appeal to the 11th Circuit Court has all but assured that Donald Trump will remain at the top of the news cycle for the foreseeable future. The irony for Republicans is that, if the Trump legal team had opted not to pursue the appointment of a special master, the Department of Justice would have almost assuredly kept a low public profile with respect to this legal situation. Notwithstanding the actions of James Comey in October of 2016, the Department of Justice historically refrains from drawing attention to and making public statements about pending legal cases that could have political implications within sixty days of a federal election.

The political climate seems different now. Republicans, not Democrats, are now doing all the stupid stuff. Every day, it seems that Republicans are hurting themselves. Lindsey Graham’s latest attempt to enact federal abortion restrictions failed miserably in the public sphere. The last thing Republican strategists want to focus on in this election cycle is the topic of abortion. Apparently, Senator Graham didn’t get the memo.

The immigrant shipping antics of Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott seem to be backfiring as well. I get what they are trying to do. They want to talk about topics that rile up their MAGA base, and the immigration of dark skinned people from Latin America has always worked as a go-to topic in the recent past. It is not working this time, though.

The optics are simply not good. These asylum seekers are, after all, people – with dreams, aspirations, and inclinations. I am by no means a touchy-feely-dogooder sort of person, but the way that Governors Abbott and DeSantis have used these asylum seekers as pawns is just downright cruel. It is also mean-spirited. Their intent was to give the liberal elite a taste of their own medicine. But all it did was make Abbott and DeSantis look like a-holes. Hateful, self-serving, insensitive a-holes. Just two days ago, a forcibly transported asylum seeker took her own life in New York. A person died as a result of the games that Governors Abbott and DeSantis played for their political benefit.

Democrats seem to be getting smarter this election cycle. The messaging around the abortion issue has been concise, strong, consistent, and laser-focused. The production value of the January 6 hearings has not only been profoundly damning for our former president, but the timing of the televised proceedings has been strategically perfect.

Republicans have tried just about everything to steer the public narrative from Donald Trump and the abortion issue – and they will continue to do so. These midterms will not be about culture war issues. Republicans can talk all they want about the perils of Colin Kaepernick, critical race theory, and male to female trans athletes. The specter of Donald Trump, the right wing Supreme Court, and the attempted January 6 coup will continue to dominate the news cycle for the foreseeable future – at least through Tuesday, November 8.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/21/2124339/-In-this-election-cycle-it-is-the-Republicans-that-are-blowing-it

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