Thus, the book is now closed on the 2022 midterms – a razor-thin margin in the House, a net loss of one seat in the Senate, and a net loss of two governors for the Republicans. The bloodletting on the right is now in full pour, with a challenge to Kevin McCarthy’s speakership underway by Andy Biggs in the House, Florida Senate Rick Scott’s unsuccessful shot across the bow of Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, and a fresh crop of contenders to oust Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee.

Finger pointing and assigning blame will be all the rage for the holidays, something we Republicans should be well-accustomed to by now, being that we haven’t really had much politically to celebrate in December since Hillary Clinton’s come-from-ahead loss in 2016. It’s all the rage on social media to say Mitch McConnell needs to go. I mean, all he’s done is had his Senate Leadership PAC spend $280 million dollars trying to provide air support to a slate of candidates that underperformed in all but a couple contests. McDaniel is being pressured to leave the RNC because she hasn’t had an outright win since presiding over the party in 2018, but mainly because she was unable to force general election voters to accept candidates that weren’t very good at running campaigns. And then there’s Kevin McCarthy, the one who actually funded the National Republican Redistricting Trust and placed Chris Christie and Mike Pompeo in charge of it, resulting in four Republican House pickups in New York, which happens to be the same number as the Republican majority. For that grave offense, he has to go, too, I guess.

If my sarcasm is showing that I’m not going to jump on the ‘throw the bums out’ bandwagon quite yet, then surely there must be an entity out there, a disturbance in the conservative force somewhere that can be held responsible, yes? Let me offer a stat to you, courtesy of Allan Smith at NBC. In 2022 swing states that saw Joe Biden win in 2020, counting high-profile races like governor, senator, or secretary of state, and those states include Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Georgia, Donald Trump-endorsed candidates went 2-14. That’s a .125 winning percentage. You don’t stay employed long with stats like that.

On May 22, 2022, the Los Angeles Angels were in first place in the American League West, 10 games over .500. They would win two more games that weekend, then proceed to lose 12 straight, not just costing them a chance at post-season six weeks before the All-Star break, but a losing streak bad enough that their manager, Joe Maddon, was shown the door. They would lose two more, setting a team best for longest losing streak at 14, before being consigned to play out the string…in June. Maddon’s last two weeks on the job? 2-12. He was blown out. Why? He picked the players that played on the field, the players didn’t perform, and Maddon was held responsible.

At 2-14, you have to look at the candidates Trump endorsed. Only Joe Lombardo in Nevada and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin survived 2022 with full-throated Trump backing. And before you throw J.D. Vance at me in Ohio, remember, I said swing states. Ohio isn’t that. It’s red. Biden didn’t win there in 2020, and won’t in 2024, either, unless Republicans nominate someone unelectable. Vance is a tremendously smart guy, got better as a candidate, and was helped immensely by the coattails of Mike DeWine, who won at the top of the ticket by 25 points.

The losses are staggering. Kari Lake, Blake Masters, Mark Finchem in Arizona. Adam Laxalt, Jim Marchant in Nevada. Doug Mastriano, Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania. Don Bolduc in New Hampshire. David Perdue, Jody Hice in Georgia (both in contested primaries), and Walker. Tim Michels in Wisconsin. Tudor Dixon, Kristina Karamo in Michigan.

The bottom line? Things like rank-choice voting and open primaries are systemic problems that complicate elections for Republicans, yet won’t be changed anytime soon, although they really should. But there are things Republicans can do, and need to do immediately.

1. Incoming National Republican Campaign Committee chair Richard Hudson and incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Steve Daines have to begin recruiting right now, and have to put their thumb on the scale a bit this time. The party simply cannot elect a slate of MAGA candidates looking back to 2020. It’s toxic to the American public, and candidates who do will continue to lose until the party turns the page and presents a forward-looking vision. Just in the Senate alone, Ohio, Nevada, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana all offer opportunities for pickups for Republicans. And if we’re lucky, Democratic progressives will take out Kirsten Sinema in Arizona in the primary and open up another avenue for a pickup. Recruiting has to be done right, and weighting may have to be done in order to prevent Democrats from crossing over in open primary states, saddling us with the weakest nominee.

2. Vote harvesting – In a lot of states, the GOP is getting better at banking early voting. In Florida, Texas, even California, Republican candidates are adapting to the new turf on the playing field rather than complaining that the grass is slippery. That has to be adopted nationwide. There is no other option if the party is to remain viable. These are the new rules. Stuff the ballot boxes wherever and whenever you can with harvested ballots. Get the personnel trained and deployed, and chase down every vote.

3. Once nominees are picked, they need to be sent to a retreat to learn how to win a general election campaign. The respective House and Senate campaign committees as well as the national party itself needs to provide staff, resources and guidance on how to hone message discipline as well as how to bank votes in the current political climate. Media coaching is a must. Our candidates have to get better. Media will only become more emboldened after the results of 2022 and become even more hostile, if possible, than they were this cycle.

4. Republican voters have to decide once and for all that they’re tired of losing. I’m not being flippant. The one thing Democrats are incessantly proficient at is outworking Republicans. Whether it’s unions, social media, traditional media, abortion supporters, gay agenda activists, environmental activists, the left never runs out of people willing to work like everything they value depends on them winning the next election. Republicans simply do not work for campaigns and elections in the same numbers, or with the same urgency. We have to quit cheering cults of personality, getting vicarious thrills out of the irreverence of an outsider candidate, and become the party of grownups that the country needs us to be right now.

5. Candidates, give voters a reason to vote for you. The days of winning campaigns on a message that your opponent is far worse are over. It worked on Hillary Clinton in 2016, but hasn’t worked since. Remember, you will never have media on your side to make the case for you with voters. You simply have to get better at resonating that you understand the concerns voters have, and what you will do positively to bring about the change on the issues they want addressed.

The fundamentals are there for a very good year for Republicans in 2024. The presidential field promises to have a lot of great candidates that are focused, energized, charismatic and positive about the future of the country. The Senate map favors Republicans more than it has in years. Joe Biden will be two years older and two years slower, and will still have to defend an indefensible record from a failed presidency. The big question is will Republicans, will the conservative base quit battling each other for a while and figure out how to win elections again? Or will the base continue to demand the firing of all their leaders except, of course, the manager most directly responsible for selecting the players that played on the field in 2022 and lost 14 of 16 contests that mattered the most?