The only way forward

Fire your primary weapon, which is to fire them all.

The number one reason Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and the presidential election in 2016, and again in 2024 is because of low information voters. Way back in 2015 I wrote: “most of America can’t even name their own Senators….Democrats and their media in orbit around the Clinton Death Star count on this. They don’t need to fight Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Scott Walker and Mike Huckabee and Sen. Marco Rubio (et al). They only need to fight The Donald, who makes an excellent stand-in for ‘Republicans’ to the great low-information voter pool.” This is still true today, and Trump has used the “divide and conquer” strategy while allowing himself to be the central pivot on everything not a Lib. It’s time to fix this defect, by using the best weapon we have: information.

Image: Grok

We have midterm elections coming in November. Republicans hold 216 seats in the House, Democrats hold 213, and 4 seats are vacant. Democrats can take the House with a net gain of just 3 seats, 4 to be certain of it. Here’s a short list of GOP-held or once GOP but now open seats that are listed by Cook Political Report as “toss-up”:

• Arizona 1st District

• Nebraska 2nd District

• Colorado 8th District

• New York 17th District

• New Jersey 7th District

I could go through all the districts, incumbents and candidates. For example, there are 15 declared candidates for AZ-01, an open seat. State Rep. Joseph Chaplik, former Cardinals kicker Jason Feely, and a bevy of other Republicans are running. You can read about them on Ballotpedia. You can read about the Democrats too: a mom, a businessman, an engineer, a former Marine. Here’s the thing, and it goes all the way back to 2015.

Both Republicans and Democrats, egged on by the elites of both parties and the media, have made everything not a Lib about Trump. They’ve made Trump the face, personality, and power of the Republican party. No matter what Trump does, this is not going to be easily broken, and in fact, I don’t think it can be broken while he is in office. Therefore, Republican incumbents face two choices: 1) do what Trump wants, even if it is something they know is awful, or 2) resign. Republicans who chose the second option leave an open seat that can either be filled with another Republican who faces the same choice, or a Democrat.

You’re not going to like my prescription. Some have already come to this conclusion, but many readers here are going to want to hang me for saying it.

Not all Democrats are frothing, splittle-flecked liberals, dying to defund the police, abolish ICE, and open the borders wide. Not all of them are doddering octogenarians. Informed voters need to find the ones they can hold their nose for, in districts that matter. That’s right: I’m telling you to go out and vote for a Democrat, albeit a sane one, possessed of their own mind.

Republicans must lose both houses of Congress in order for anything to be done about the serious situations facing America. What we must not do is react like the idiot who attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar, 55-year old Anthony Kazmierczak. For the record, we’re learning that Kazmierczak isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s got a list offenses and arrests over the years. Fox News reported that the liquid Kazmierczak squirted from a syringe at Omar was apple cider vinegar. Going after the libs is dumb, it gives those in the media who want to claim Trump is fomenting political violence more evidence.

Also for the record, Trump is not opposed to political violence, when it helps him (“Fight like hell!”). He’s not opposed to his fans carrying firearms into the Ellipse of the White House (“they’re not here to hurt me.”). He is opposed to anyone carrying a gun who might harm him politically. Listen, the man benefitted more from being shot than any politician in American history. I think he really believes God preserved his life by a few millimeters in order that he can fulfill his great destiny, which is the nation’s great destiny because he sees no difference between the two.

There’s only one way forward in this situation. It’s to fire every single Republican who has not already quit. Fire them all. I’d say this also goes for Democrats who have overstayed their time in government, or have corruptly used their position to enrich themselves and their friends. But that’s not what I am talking about. Democrats have no more golden calfs to protect. They only have Donald Trump to oppose. Making Trump the center of all things only enhances Trump’s power over Republicans.

When surgeons find cancer, they don’t just target the cancerous cells. They cut it all out, and create a healthy space around the tumor. The Republican Party is shot through with tumors. Unfortunately that means some districts that have serviceable incumbents need Republican voters to look at reasonable Democrat alternatives. I hate saying this, I really do.

If you live in AZ-06, CA-22, CA-48, IA-01, IA-03, MI-07, PA-07, PA-10, VA-02, or WI-03, get educated. Go on Ballotpedia and look up the candidates. Engage with them. I haven’t yet met a successful candidate who doesn’t want your vote. The way forward is to reduce or remove the large pool of low information voters by making them into informed voters.

At this point, issues no longer matter as much as they did before. Our problem isn’t issues, because we know that Trump will orphan the pro-life, 2A, and every other conservative constituent group in order to consolidate his power. The issue is about power, and governance. The only way to break the steel fetters that tie every Republican to Trump is to fire them all. This, unfortunately, means to elect Democrats, and give control of both houses of Congress, with as much margin as possible, to the Democratic Party.

What will Democrats do with that power? They’ll preen, maybe impeach, conduct show hearings, and do all the wasteful, stupid things that politicians who have been given power do. But they won’t be beholden to Trump, and that will free Republicans to act in conscience, not in deference. Surgeons cut out a tumor then oncologists apply chemotherapy and radiation to remove the remaining cancer. It makes the patient sick, but ultimately it makes them healthy.

The Republican Party has giant tumors, and needs immediate care if the party wants to be healthy again. The only way to deal with it is to fire as many Republicans as possible, put in Democrats, and let the healing begin. Republicans should have to run for their seats. You know, I’d talk about the Senate, but both seats in Georgia are held by Democrats. And it’s Donald Trump’s fault we’re in this situation. There are no seats to flip in Georgia. But there are seats in Maine (Sen. Susan Collins), North Carolina (Sen. Thom Tillis), and Alaska (Sen. Dan Sullivan). In Ohio, Sen. Jon Husted needs to win his appointed seat, but could be unseated, like Kelly Loeffler was in 2020 (Loeffler now heads the SBA). In Texas, Sen. John Cornyn is vulnerable, mostly due to Trump.

Democrats have to net flip 4 seats to take the Senate. It’s possible. Do I really want to give the Senate to Democrats? Does a cancer patient really want to take that chemo? Same answer. It has to be done.

You might think it’s crazy to study Democrats to find one you might be able to hold your nose and vote for, but remember, this is good for Republicans. It frees those Republicans who will be in the minority from hewing to Donald Trump’s every whim. They can be free to vote their best interests, and yours. They can be free to begin to move the Republican Party past 2028, when President Trump’s term ends.

But the only way it can happen is to turn low information voters, those who can’t name their own Senators, or don’t know who is running in a race, into informed voters. Go out and get informed. Tell your friends and relatives to get informed. You don’t have to tell them who to vote for. Some might be MAGA to the core and for those, there’s really no cure, because they only vote for candidates supported and endorsed by Trump. This is why Marjorie Taylor Greene quit Congress. Previously, she beat a brain surgeon in the Republican Party primary. Now she can’t win because her district is full of low information voters. I’m not sure what can be done in places like Georgia’s 14th District. But there are other districts where something can be done.

Fire them all. Make Democracy Great Again.

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