Vice President Harris is making a major effort to get disenchanted Republicans to vote for her rather than stay home on election day. They also hope to shame Republicans from voting for Trump and down-ballot Republican candidates by demonizing anyone supporting Trump. The effort is being led by a number of prominent Republican apostates.
We have seen them on the left-leaning media for the past four years. Some still lay claim to being members of the GOP. Others have moved to independent status – or even joined the Democratic Party The latter are the honest ones.
Many appear as regular panelists – and even as paid “contributors.” Former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele now co-hosts his own shows on MSNBC. These folks are rewarded with high compensation for their conversion.
The list of Republican false flaggers is impressive. It includes such longtime conservative leaders as Bill Kristol, George Conway, ex-husband of Trump 2016 campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh, former aide to Vice President Pence, Olivia Troye, former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly (now MSNBC contributor), GOP strategist Susan Del Percio, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, former First Lady spokesperson Stephanie Grisham, former Illinois Republican Governor Jim Edgar, and others. (Note that there are a lot of “formers” in the ranks)
More than 15 FORMER Republican members of Congress have endorsed Harris. (Perhaps all these folks should sail under a “Has Beens for Harris” banner.)
The most notable of the apostates are former Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney. Kinzinger was never part of the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Cheney was. They still absurdly describe themselves as conservatives – even as they support the most left-wing Democratic Party since the nomination of uber liberal George McGovern as its presidential candidate in 1972.
What is notable about this group is that they are not just opposing Trump. They have pledged fealty to the entire Democratic Party and the radical left-wing agenda it represents. This crowd is different than those who simply will not vote for Trump – such as Vice President Pence. Most of those in that category are still supporting Republican candidates down the ballot.
Ever since Trump rode down the escalator – and especially after he won the 2016 presidential election — these erstwhile Republicans have demonized Republicans from Trump to the grassroots voters. It has been an assault on the brand – and on conservative values.
They are anti-Trump, anti-Republican and anti-conservative crossovers who have formed a number of organizations specifically to support the Democrat presidential candidate – first Biden and now Harris – and by extension, Democrat candidates for other offices.
The list includes the Lincoln Project, the Republican Accountability Project, George Conway’s uniquely nasty PsychoPAC, and of course, Republicans for Harris. They also converted Bulwark from a conservative publication to a left-wing rag under the leadership of Kristol and Charlie Sykes, another GOP apostate.
As a person who has been constantly critical of Trump’s personality and style, I can understand how he has created adversaries within the GOP ranks. What I cannot understand is how so many conservative leaders could toss out their entire political philosophy to embrace and support everything they fought against for most of their lives.
I still vote for limited government, lower taxes, secure borders, free market economics, school choice, pro-life, integration and assimilation as opposed to segregation and oppression, the empowerment of elected officials over unreachable and unaccountable bureaucrats and activist American world leadership – the core conservative principles.
It is not just Trump the Republican apostates oppose. Kinzinger has been featured in fundraising mailings for one of the more radical Democrat PACs. He was prime time speaker at the Democratic National Convention – provided a better time slot than Biden. Liz Cheney has lent her name and presence to fundraisers for Democrat candidates. They have fully embraced the Democratic Party and its most un-conservative candidates and political agenda.
It seems obvious that guys like Kinzinger and Walsh – whom I have known personally for years – have sold out for the money and the spotlight as regular guests on left-wing news platforms. Their lust for fame and fortune has led them to sell out their party and their principles.
While Trump does not get a lot of support from Democrat leaders, he does draw well from Democrat voters – especially among the blue-collar working class. That has been a frustration for union leaders since President Reagan benefited from Democrats for Reagan.
It is also a frustration to Democrats that virtually everything that should be a knockout punch with Trump never is. The opposition of prominent Republicans may actually give credence to Trump’s claim that it is him and the people against an elitist political establishment, It will take a while – and future rounds of polling – to see if Harris’ efforts to attract Republican votes is successful. Stay tuned.
So, there ‘tis.