Cojones - who knew? Mike Pompeo calls out Trump by name at the CPAC MAGA love-in
There are two types of Republican politicians — the Trump bum-snogging MAGAs, and the candidates looking to run against the Mar-a-Lago miasma. Neither flavor has said anything derogatory about America’s carbuncle — until now.
Yesterday at CPAC, the big daddy of conservative love-ins, Mike Pompeo, a maybe soon-to-announce candidate, stood on the stage and gave the crowd a lecture on candidate selection:
"We shouldn’t look for larger-than-life personalities. We can’t become the left, following celebrity leaders with their own brand of identity politics — those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality. This is a tough world, both abroad and here. We can’t shift blame to others. But must accept the responsibility that comes to those of us who step forward and lead.”
Pompeo has run a feint by denouncing the left for blame-shifting, thin-skinned celebrity leaders who resist reality and shun responsibility. But which lefty leader is a “celebrity”? Biden? Hakeem Jeffries? Chuck Schumer? Hardly. These serious-minded people are not red-carpet doyens or paparazzi targets. So to whom was Pompero referring? The audience knew.
Pompeo continued with his analysis of the GOP’s 2022 midterm debacle.
“We lost race after winnable race because voters didn’t trust us to do any better than the tax-and-spend liberals.
We should have won big. I’m happy that we won the House but we barely captured it. We lost three elections in a row, in the popular vote — seven out of the last eight. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is they [the voters] have lost trust in conservative ideas.”
Why didn’t voters trust Republicans to do better than liberals? Why did they lose trust in conservative ideas? At this point, Pompeo did not say. He did not have to. Everyone in the room knows who has been responsible for the Republican electoral strategy over the last three elections.
Pompeo continued by reflecting on the moral rectitude deficit of conservative presidential candidates.
“Over the last few years, I’ve heard some who claim to be conservative, excuse hypocrisy by saying something like ‘well, we’re electing a president, not a Sunday school teacher. That’s true. But having taught Sunday school, maybe we could get both.”
Only one person fits the “he is a moral sewer, but he is our best chance to win” description. Pompeo wants the audience to know it is not him.
Pompeo then addressed a conservative bugbear — at least when Democrats occupy the White House — the national debt.
“I stare today at $31 trillion in debt and tell my son, ‘Make sure you work hard because Social Security may just not be there for you’.”
“Every recent administration, Republican and Democrat alike, added trillions in dollars to our debt. That is deeply unconservative. [The] Trump administration, the administration I served, added $8 trillion in new debt. This is indecent and can’t continue. Earning back that trust will be hard work, it won’t just be a campaign speech.”
Finally, he speaks Trump’s name — placing partial responsibility for the national fiscal imbalance on the back of his former boss. It is a start. Yet this first-in-his-class West Pointer pulled his punches. His attack was flaccid. He weaseled by adding “administration” and putting himself in the crosshairs. He wanted to have his cake and eat it. However, kudos. At least he tried.
I commend Pompeo for stating the obvious — that Trump is dragging the GOP down. Not that his observation served him well. The crowd was unenthusiastic at his apostasy. The room was half empty. The energy Jeb Bushian. And the applause was polite — and brief.
If Pompeo thought he might get traction by telling the truth about his former boss, it was clear he misread the room. His message is one that will play well among the “never Trump” rump of the party and right-leaning independents. But they never show up for the primaries.
I should not be surprised if Pompeo saw the lack of vim in the room and joined the ranks of the “wait until 2028” band of political realists. I suspect he will decide that as impelling as his ambition is, a 2024 run is a road to perdition and sit out the shit-tossing.
On the other hand, if he competes this time, he will not have to run against the flood of candidates who have lost the will to wrestle the pig. His only competition would be the ingratiating, grating Haley, a tech CEO no one knows, some other bums, and possibly America’s most overrated politician, Ron DeSantis.
So, why not? Run Mike, run.