The Emperor has no clothes - the GOP is still insane but MAGA took a beating last night

The GOP is not about to become a sane party. It is home to too many barking mad morons unmoored from reality. I do not doubt that the base will believe whatever bullshit the Lord of the Flies shovels. But notably, few people have complained that the Democrats fixed the election.

Steve Bannon tried. He whined to his fellow show pony, Alex Jones, "It was right there in our grasp. Did we pull it off? We did not. Listen, they're [the Democrats] going to continue to steal [elections]." Even he knows how dumb he sounds. Why would the Democrats fix the election and still lose the House?

Top StoriesCLICK TO READAs another Georgia Senate runoff kicks off, GOPhas to try to shut Trump up for a month

The biggest loser last night was Trump. Salting the wound was DeSantis's walk in the park reelection — he won by the most sizable margin ever in a Florida gubernatorial contest. Even the narcissist-in-chief does not dare take credit for that. And it follows on the heels of Glenn Youngkin’s win last year — in which the now Virginia Governor stayed clear of the orange stain.

Oz, Tudor Dixon, Tim Michaels, Darren Bailey, and Scott Jensen lost. As did Derek Schmidt — in Kansas, for God’s sake. Don Bolduc lost in New Hampshire by 8% points in a state where the non-MAGA Republican was reelected Governor by 16%. Kari Lake and Blake Masters are losing. As are Boebert and Palin. Hershel Walker is behind and headed for a run-off in a state in which the non-MAGA Republican, Steve Kemp, won the Governorship by 7% points. And Brad Raffensburger, who refused Trump’s plea to find votes for him, returned as Secretary of State.

Trump’s candidates won in overwhelmingly Republican districts or states. And he is sure to mention them, plus Republicans he neither endorsed nor gave money to. His reaction to last night’s spanking was pure bullshit, "While in certain ways yesterday’s election was somewhat disappointing, from my personal standpoint it was a very big victory - 219 WINS and 16 Losses in the General - Who has ever done better than that?"

It is like Captain Smith taking credit for “saving” 705 of the 2,200 passengers and crew on the Titanic. And in Trump speak, “somewhat disappointing” is a synonym for “unmitigated failure”.

Reaction from the GOP about Trump’s contribution to their flaccid performance has so far been muted. But there is grumbling. The conservative Washington Examiner made its position clear in an editorial headlined, “Voters show they want sanity and don’t want Trump.”

“An election that leaves the House and Senate so closely divided may seem like it does not send a clear message. But this one does. These midterm elections have made it crystal clear that voters want to move past the chaos and dishonor of the 45th president. They want the security and sanity that a competent and effective leader can provide. The Republican Party needs to recognize that, too, and act accordingly.”

Virginia GOP state delegate Tim Anderson wrote on Facebook,

"While Trump was President, we lost a supermajority in the House of Delegates, a majority in the Senate, and in 2019 Democrats controlled all state government for 2 years – radically changing Virginia. After Trump lost, the GOP gained Delegate seats back and won all 3 statewide offices. I call this the Trump effect. One thing Trump does very well in Virginia is mobilizing the left to vote against him and anyone who supports him.

ABC dug up “a Republican operative close to the Trump orbit” (whatever the hell that means) who offered this,

"This was the end of the Trump era and the dawn of the DeSantis era. Like every other Trump catastrophe, he did this to himself with stupid and reckless decisions."

I doubt it is the end of anything. If there were any Republicans with a spine, maybe. But they are a bunch of chinless wonders. Look at Jan 6. Kevin McCarthy went from principle to poodle in a week after he followed his condemnation of Trump with a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. Even Mitch McConnell, who chastised the seditionist for inciting a riot, voted against his impeachment. Two years later, he was decrying Trump’s choices. But he lit the fuse on that bomb.

It will be interesting to see if McConnell survives the revolt headed by Rick Scott as that fraudster maneuvers for the GOP Senate leadership. If he does, that will be another Trump failure.

I would not count Trump out. He has survived fraud, bankruptcy, impeachment, and multiple business failures. He did win the 2016 nomination against the odds. And he still has the MAGA base and his posse of bumsuckers in Congress. But he looks weak.  His appeal to independents has shriveled. And his “I wuz robbed” message has become both an albatross around the GOP’s neck and boring. 

He is still the favorite to win the Republican nomination in 2024 — especially as his most viable opponent, Ron DeSantis, could sit it out. He is only 44. And who the hell wants to tackle a master of the insult and put-down when he could just wait four more years? As someone said (not GB Shaw as often claimed) “Never wrestle with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig enjoys it.”