Republicans are poised to retake the House due to redistricting alone. That and the historical fact that the first midterm for a newly minted president is almost always a bloodbath has Democrats dreading what looks to be coming. That’s why you see such a push to get rid of the filibuster now. Democrats know they are on borrowed time, and they want to push through what they can now.
There has been one thing that the left have been hoping will save them, though. Namely, that a civil war within the Republican party leads to a suppression of victories come 2022. For that to happen, Democrats were banking on Donald Trump just going scorched earth, with no care for whether the GOP takes back the majority or not.
Well, the former president just blew that notion up, and that sound you hear is millions of liberals crying out in agony.
This is Trump saying that he’ll be prioritizing policy over petty politics in the mid-terms, and honestly, good for him. That essentially defuses any major in-fighting within the party and sets the GOP up for success. The fundamentals already heavily favored them. Now, without another variable to gum up the works, Trump can be a positive force toward sending Nancy Pelosi into retirement, and that benefits him in the long term as well.
Of course, this doesn’t mean Trump is going to endorse Liz Cheney or the like, nor should he. There still need to be real primary fights, and anyone who voted for impeachment is going to suffer the political consequences. But it does mean that, for the most part, Trump is willing to get behind candidates that fit their districts and are positioned to win, even if they’ve thrown a little shade in his direction in the past.
With the border situation worsening, inflation beginning, and more worries over foreign policy building, Democrats are not in a good position. Without a GOP civil war to save them, their path to retaining their majorities in 2022 becomes a very tall task, and once Republicans take over again, Joe Biden’s life is going to turn to misery.
Trump being a team player, even if it ticks some of his supporters off, is the right move here. What’s going on in this country is serious, and it affects the lives of real people. Republicans can’t be slap-fighting over bygones. Winning in 2022 has to be the only thing that matters because the stakes are just too high.