The 2022 autopsy from the Republican Party will be released at some point in 2023, and it could be one of the most maddening reads due to this past election cycle being one of the most winnable in recent memory. The 2022 midterms were to Republicans what the 2016 election was to Democrats: both sides thought victory was assured. Yet, there is only one portion of that report that will be worth reading, but first—let’s re-open some wounds because only through pain can there be progress, sadly.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton thought she had the presidential race locked up—no way was she going to lose to the host of “The Apprentice.” And then she saw her numbers with white working-class voters, prompting Barack Obama to hightail it to Michigan, a state not usually needing massive get-out-the-vote rallies and pushes days before an election: it’s a state that’s the foundation of the proverbial blue wall that’s helped Democrats win numerous contests. In 2022, Republicans thought the struggling economy, rising inflation, and spike in crime could generate the conditions necessary for a red wave. It never materialized, and the GOP just barely took back the House. Republicans went on vacation for months and ignored the fundamentals of campaigning.
It isn’t over till it’s over, something Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) did not adhere to when he absconded on a posh vacation to Italy in a luxury yacht. Scott chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee for 2022 and failed miserably, tweaking the fundraising allocation splits to the point where candidates needing cash would get a marginal slice of the haul at best. It’s why some Republicans are calling for an audit of the NRSC. But it goes beyond the GOP leadership dropping the ball. Spencer wrote about this at Townhall: our people need to hit hard on some nonsensical voting laws in their respective states.
A crucial action item that Republicans must act on going forward is pushing integrity laws like those in Georgia and prohibiting so-called ballot harvesting, the act in which ballots are submitted en masse to volunteers and then submitted for tabulation. Only the voter should be allowed to submit their vote, not a third third-party arbiter. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 candidate, made this sort of election activity a felony. I hope there is a lengthy portion and rundown of states still permitting this quasi-legalized form of voter fraud. And even then, there’s some disappointment as Democrats made gains at the state level. Michigan Republicans lost control of the state legislature, and in Pennsylvania, Democrats retook the state House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. The GOP must be in for the long haul on this front.
The last part is prominent: don’t take things for granted. There might be a portion about candidate quality which is an issue, but also not. In the end, it’s up to Republican voters concerning who they want to represent them, so the Monday Morning quarterbacking about this person or that person being hoisted up as an example of a candidate who would have won a race when things go sideways for us is irrelevant. These people didn’t win their primaries. I fear the GOP will waste time focusing more on candidate quality rather than the more systemic and consequential aspects in dire need of attention.
