'Republicans for Biden' strike: Ex-lawmakers sign on for Team Biden

A group of former Republican lawmakers have come together to denounce President Trump on the first day of the Republican Party’s national convention and sing their praises for Democrat Joe Biden. You can count them all as Biden voters in November.

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Let that sink in. An organized group of Republicans who were given the honor of representing their communities in Congress, thanks to Republican voters, are now turning their backs on those very constituents. They have thrown in with Democrats in order to virtue-shame the bad Orange Man. That is what it boils down to. It’s not policy concerns, it’s all personal. The former lawmaker elbowing his way to be the frontman for this group is former Senator Jeff Flake. The people of Arizona quickly grew tired of Flake’s brand of service to their state and he was tossed out on his keister. Flake penned an op-ed last fall to urge lawmakers to abandon Trump and “save their souls” by voting in favor of impeachment. Yep. That Jeff Flake. So, now to show us, rubes, how to truly conserve conservatism or something, he’s endorsing Biden for president. Most of all, Flake would like another 15 minutes before cameras and receiving the praise of late-night talk show hosts for sticking it to Trump. He is a broken man.

Some others on the list had already backed the former vice president, including former Republican Sens. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire (who is now an independent) and John Warner of Virginia. They’re joined by a number of former Republican House members:

Former Reps. Steve Bartlett of Texas, Bill Clinger of Pennsylvania, Tom Coleman of Missouri, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Charles Djou of Hawaii, Mickey Edwards of Oklahoma, Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland, Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Jim Kolbe of Arizona, Steve Kuykendall of California, Ray LaHood of Illinois (who served as Transportation secretary in the Obama administration), Jim Leach of Iowa, Connie Morella of Maryland, Mike Parker of Mississippi, Jack Quinn of New York, Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island, Chris Shays of Connecticut, Peter Smith of Vermont, Alan Steelman of Texas, Bill Whitehurst of Virginia, Dick Zimmer of New Jersey, and Jim Walsh of New York.

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The Biden campaign calls this list of names “a strong rebuke” of President Trump and the Trump administration. The problem with that is most voters won’t know the names on the list unless their own former congressperson is one of them. Even then, most voters will not be changing their vote because of this list, or any other list of Republican turncoats this election cycle. For four years we have heard from various forms of Never Trump groups and yet Trump is still strongly supported by Republican voters.

Team Biden is obviously going for disgruntled Republicans and Independent voters since they cannot win the election without them. The support from the far-left is iffy at best right now for Biden. Does anyone think a large enough group of offended Republicans will tilt the election for Biden? I think it is very unlikely, especially as we see events on the ground begin to break for Trump. For example, the number of cases of COVID-19 has begun to plateau and decline. The stock market continues to bounce along with rising numbers. There are hopeful signs on the coronavirus vaccines and therapeutic therapies. And, a huge issue will be law and order by the time the election comes around. Already, people are tired of the nightly violence and destruction in some cities, even those who support the protesters. It’s all spreading to the suburbs and that will not win over hearts and minds of Independents and those moderate-leaning suburban women that are crucial for both campaigns. Trump just received another endorsement from a law enforcement organization – New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association. Their leadership says Biden used to support law enforcement but has turned his back on them. That’s what is happening – the longer Biden refuses to denounce the violent protests, his silence is seen as complicity.

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What exactly are these Never Trump Republicans angry about? Do they not approve of Trump’s measures for border security and bringing down the numbers of illegal immigrants? How about when he sticks up for religious liberty, cuts taxes, or ended the individual mandate of Obamacare. Are judicial appointments important? All of these issues are important to Americans who are not willing to watch a Democrat Party who was moving closer to socialism just a few years ago now embrace the agenda of the Marxist wing of the party assume leadership in the Oval Office.

Last week during the Democrat convention, a group of former Republican national security officials did the same thing – they signed on to their support of Biden. Imagine that – Biden likes to take credit for being an important member of the Obama team who put the disastrous Iran deal into place. Obama and Biden secretly gave away pallets of American dollars in exchange for a deal that was never going to work. How about the reports of Biden’s coziness with China and helping his son secure lucrative deals with that Communist country, along with the deal with the Ukrainian energy company? The Obama intelligence agencies actively worked against a Republican candidate’s presidential campaign with Biden’s blessing. This is what these former national security officials are signing on to by supporting Biden over Trump.

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Ronald Reagan brought a whole new generation of Americans into the Republican Party. He did that by stressing loyalty to the party and reminding that someone with whom we agree 80% of the time is our friend and ally, not our enemy. It’s called the Reagan 80 percent rule. Especially at this time, this is no time to bend. It isn’t party over country, as the liberals like to shame Trump supporters with, but country first. Many of us are not willing to allow a Marxist agenda to creep into power simply because the man in the Oval Office doesn’t play nice. He plays to win and puts America first, which is why he was elected in the first place.

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | November 21, 2024
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