February 7, 2024

JIM GERAGHTY: The Self-Defeating Republican Party.

  • When McDaniel took over, Trump was about to be inaugurated, there were 52 Republican senators and 246 Republican members of the House, and 4,205 of the 7,383 state legislative seats (almost 57 percent) were held by Republicans. Today, Biden is president, there are 49 Republican senators and 219 Republican members of the House, and 4,022 of the 7,383 state legislative seats (54.4 percent) are held by Republicans. Filings with the Federal Election Commission indicate that the RNC begins 2024 with just over $8 million in cash on hand, the lowest since 1993, adjusted for inflation. The Democratic National Committee begins the year with $24 million on hand.

  • Red State’s Jennifer Van Laar reported that the RNC spent about $297,000 on office supplies, $1 million on management consulting, $70,000 on floral arrangements, $116,000 on media-booking consultants, and $263,000 on limousines — significantly more than their counterparts in the Democratic National Committee in each category. Meanwhile, the DNC significantly outspent the RNC on voter-file maintenance, get-out-the-vote texting, and transfers to state parties — you know, the sorts of efforts that actually help candidates get elected.

  • Oh, and finally, Donald Trump declared on Truth Social that “Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company” and that “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance?” Jeff Miller, a lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch, is hosting a fundraiser for Trump on March 6.

I don’t know about you, but I find all this “winning” exhausting. Will Rogers famously said, “I’m not a member of any organized political party, I’m a Democrat.” Lately, the Republican Party is demonstrating all the organization of Bogota rush-hour traffic.

We can’t get a bipartisan consensus to aid our allies. America’s enemies must be laughing this morning.

As Jim Treacher adds, “Even Trump says Bud Light is good now. So I guess that whole thing is over. Sure, fine, so this was one of the few culture-war skirmishes the Republicans were actually winning. But what’s so great about winning anyway, right? Such a hassle. Lay down your guns, Kid Rock. War is over if you want it. Oceania is not at war with Bud Light. Oceania has never been at war with Bud Light.”

Exit quote:

Posted at 5:15 pm by Ed Driscoll