33 Comments
founding

How is this a problem that needs to be fixed? Let the RNC fail. I have no problem with Trump sucking up all the RNC money at the expense of every other candidate in the country. What did they expect?

Expand full comment

Exactly. I'm not sure I understand why anyone is advocating for this. The only way this country gets back to any measure of sanity is through the obliteration of the GOP in its current iteration. Any sane people in this country, should want this too. As long as the GOPs' increasing lurch to the right continues to be rewarded politically, that won't happen - there needs to be a return to some degree of sanity from them. And lest any Democrats gets excited about the idea of having the political arena all to themselves, GOPs further lurch to the right will only encourage their Dem counterparts to do the same, which in the long run won't be the win we think it is.....

Expand full comment

Right—like Democratic and Republican parties have endured the longest; but there are have several other political parties that rose and fell in the US (Whigs, Free Soil, Anti-Masonic, Liberty Party, Bull Moose party, Ross Perot’s Reform party, etc).

If the national GOP fails, I think for a while, we are going to see multiple small parties fighting for traction, and eventually they will coalesce back into one big party.

Side note: I was trying to remember one of those parties names and in looking it up, learned the Democratic Party is considered the oldest voter based political party in the world. Knew it was the older one in the US but had no idea about globally.

Expand full comment

I'd hope the current Dems would split into a 'center' and 'left' to fill the void. No more GOP, just the Dems, essentially. It'd be better and more accurate representation for the US, I think.

Expand full comment

It’s kinda happening organically already. As establishment Dems continue to whiff the ball on or downplay economic equality issues and focus more on appealing to Haley Republican women than their POC base, progressives are joining with rural and (the new term of art) Factory Town Dems to effect change from the inside. That will push the corporate-friendly and moderate Dems somewhere else, but Republican is such a toxic brand that it’s hard to see them going there. It’s also hard to see the progressive/rural/non-thriving urban voter coalition losing in the long run since it’s the party’s base. But with all this 501 c4 money flying around, it’s hard to make any solid predictions.

FWIW, my campaign year advice from the trenches is this: tune out the noise. They are weaker than they seem; they are loud and monopolize news & social media attention, but their popularity continues to plummet. There are closeted Dems all over rural America and I think this election will reveal a fundamental demographic shift — not huge, but statistically significant.

I also don’t think Dems will be as reckless about sitting it out or voting 3rd party as they were in 2016. Biden is almost irrelevant at this point as long as the MAGA cult is on the ballot.

Expand full comment
Apr 19Liked by Jen Maravegias

How do they enforce that vig? Send Tom Cotton around to bust a kneecap?

Expand full comment

Josh Hawley slaps them with his book "Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs."

Expand full comment

Oh my god, that's a real thing. hahaha!

Expand full comment

Thank you. I burst out laughing at work.

Expand full comment

I need Stephanie to put that in her AI picture generator. It'll be hilarious.

Expand full comment

Does Tom Cotton gotta choke a snitch to get the money??

Expand full comment
founding
Apr 19Liked by Jen Maravegias

Trump turned out to be political meth. That first rush in 2016 sure felt great for GOP but every time they've tired to wean themselves off him - after the 2018 election, after January 6th, after 2022 - the shakes are just too bad and they're suddenly selling their furniture to pay for another hit. At some point they're destroy themselves. I just hope the collateral damage isn't a national catastrophe.

Expand full comment

I honestly don't see these two breaking up any time soon. *Maybe* if he ends up going to jail. But Trump has created a coalition and I can totally see him attacking the RNC from behind bars, if it comes to that. He'll complain that they didn't do enough to defend him and try to sink Republican candidates he doesn't like.

He will absolutely burn it all down.

Expand full comment

You really think he will throw his daughter-in-law, Lara, under the bus when he loses? I mean isn't family loyalty more important than . . . . on second thought, nevermind.

Expand full comment

Lol. I thought for a second there you were actually serious :)

Expand full comment
Apr 19Liked by Jen Maravegias

The RNC should set aside a chunk of the funds to support a staff chiropracter, who they're going to need to treat all the hundreds of GOP politicans who have lost spinal control or at least given themselves chronic whiplash as a result of their blatant hyocrisy when it comes to hating on and then boosting Agent Orange Chaos (looking at you, Lindsey and Marco and Rafael).

Expand full comment

Nah, they can keep what they bought (and are still buying) and the folks down stream can choke on the drought of funding. I'm all for them running the entire GOP right into the ground, maybe deep enough that we can bury it. Heck, maybe out of the void, we'll get a multi-party system.

Expand full comment

The RNC's lack of funds, coupled with their inability to fundraise and exacerbated by a complete lack of experience, boots-on-the-ground campaign strategists at the local level gives me a lot of optimism. They're counting on Trump's "brand" to raise the tide for all ships and I don't think that tide is rolling in any time soon.

That said, everyone opposed to Trump needs to vote against him along with any and all enablers. Which is now the entirety of the Republican party.

Expand full comment
founding

The winner-take-all nature of our electoral system offers extreme structural incentives to create a two-party system. Until that changes, we'll never seen multi-party democracy.

Expand full comment

Which is why the electoral college needs to end, too.

Expand full comment

The inmates are running the asylum over there. They can't drop him because their own voters would turn on them. This isn't a matter of wanting to find someone better, it's a matter of the only people who would vote for them wants this guy. They already have a plan in place to never leave power once they win. They don't have to try very hard to win votes because they'll just abolish elections once they get in there. They all hate him but they still need him. At least for now. So this is the devil's bargain they made.

Expand full comment
Apr 19Liked by Jen Maravegias

You know how when a parent inevitably takes a little taste when making a sandwich, scooping a bowl of ice cream, or doing other food related stuff for their child? That's how I taught my kids the concept of vigorish.

Expand full comment

The RNC is suffering from Battered Conservaloon Syndrome. Like women who stay with their abusive husbands/boyfriends who stay because they can't afford to leave or they're afraid they will come after them and kill them if they dare to leave, the RNC is only raising as much money as they are because of Agolf Twitler and if they DO leave,he will lay waste to SO many Republican assholes running for office, basically killing those folks' careers. And God only knows what some of his cult would ACTUALLY do to some of those Repulsivecans.

Expand full comment
Apr 19·edited Apr 19

It's like watching the worst people lining up and baring their jugulars to a hideous & obviously malevolent Count Orlok in hopes that they get something out of it too.

Expand full comment

LOL, fuck 'em. Every dollar wasted on Trump's legal defense is one less dollar they get to spend on Republican campaigns. In fact, grift harder, Donnie! That way, down-ballot GOP candidates receive an "I love Trump" sticker and a hand full of pocket lint, while their Democratic opponents get resources for staff and outreach.

Expand full comment

Yeah I was just thinking.

The evangelicals already got Roe V. Wade repealed.

He’s going to have so much media scrutiny on him over paying a porn star hush money illegally.

Trump’s promises for further control of the courts might fall flat because he’s got such a huge agenda of his own for this coming election.

Might there be some hope that enough voters will say “No thanks, I’m good,” this year?

Expand full comment

So some dude in congress went on CNN and straight up called Gaetz a pedophile on air. And it was someone on his side! Methinks things aren't going well on the GOP homestead these days!

Expand full comment

Pertinent to the conversation:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/19/death-of-republican-party-consequences

"Nixon infected the modern Republican party with a sickness that would ultimately kill it. Donald Trump has finished the job." -Robert Reich

Expand full comment

Someone set himself on fire and all I can hope is that he was a Trumpalloon from a swing state.

Expand full comment

He was.

Expand full comment

He was a conspiracy theory nut who said Trump and Biden were working together, probably an RFK voter.

Expand full comment

Just gonna leave this here for you to enjoy. Lara flunking American Civics on live TV.

https://www.threads.net/@bidenharrishq/post/C6Jbbg3JTjU

Expand full comment