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Why Does the GOP Elite Hate Its Own Base?
American Greatness ^ | December 8, 2022 | Josh Hammer

Posted on 12/09/2022 6:39:57 AM PST by Heartlander

Why Does the GOP Elite Hate Its Own Base?

For the GOP, the status quo is simply unsustainable.

It is one of the most bitter and tragic ironies of our contemporary politics that the leadership of one of America’s two major political parties, the Republican Party, utterly despises that party’s very own voting base.

The GOP elite’s scorn for its own voters has, at this point, been a long time in the making. The trend accelerated during the 2009-2011 rise of the Tea Party, a grassroots movement fueled by constitutionalism and anti-elite populism. The crustier elements of the Republican establishment ran as far away as possible from the Tea Party, and the 2012 presidential coronation of private equity plutocrat Mitt Romney effectively killed the movement. Four years later, the Republican establishment fought tooth-and-nail against presidential candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the two candidates who most vociferously condemned the establishment’s myriad shortcomings; as an unsurprising corollary, Trump and Cruz fetched the most primary votes that cycle from actual rank-and-file Republican voters.

The Trump presidency saw the continuation of the same basic dynamic. Republican voters, by nominating a loudmouth non-politician like Trump, were clamoring for something new. Those voters were sick of the same-old Republican pablum: willful complicity in globalization and all the harms wrought by reckless immigration compromises and myopic supply chain outsourcing, and the ideologically driven pursuit of various right-liberal economic and foreign policy dogmas more generally—even when those dogmas came at the expense of the median American’s tangible interests. Nonetheless, with precious few exceptions, the conservative intelligentsia refused to treat Trump’s deviations from previous decades’ failed orthodoxies as anything other than a blip on the radar, to be conveniently discarded at a time when the GOP’s “dead consensus” might rise anew.

Now, in the midst of a lame-duck Congress and in the aftermath of a severely disappointing midterm election, we have gleaned even more indicia about the level of scorn Republican elites reserve for their own voters.

Perhaps most notably, 12 Republican senators and a whopping 39 Republican congressmen have rushed to add their imprimaturs of legitimacy to the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which would not only statutorily enshrine an erroneous definition of marriage in federal law but would also further weaponize the leftist lawfare apparatus to subjugate conscientious objectors to the Western world’s new same-sex marriage dispensation. While it is true that Republicans nationally are now split on the issue of same-sex marriage, it is also true that religious Christians still comprise the very core of the GOP’s base. Nonetheless, a sizable portion of Republicans in Congress voted for a bill that would open the floodgates of litigation for those Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who still adhere to the biblical (and historically uncontroversial) definition of marriage.

On the always-thorny issue of immigration, where Republican elites have historically sold out their own base perhaps more than any other, Republican leaders are using the perfidious backdrop of the lame-duck Congress to get the amnesty band back together again. Specifically, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is now teaming up with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to push a prototypical “comprehensive immigration reform”-style “compromise”: amnesty for millions of young illegal aliens (tendentiously called “Dreamers” by our propagandist press) in exchange for promised milquetoast “enforcement” measures. The obvious problem with such a “deal” is that, absent the most strenuous of border enforcement measures, such as a sprawling Texas-to-California physical border wall and a return of the highly successful Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, amnesty for illegal aliens will only exacerbate the border crisis by emboldening the very drug cartels, coyotes and human trafficking rings that are the most ruthless thugs in the Western Hemisphere.

There may well be other lame-duck Congress betrayals, as well. One week after the election last month, the Biden Administration requested an additional $37 billion in “emergency” aid for Ukraine. One can only imagine how many Senate and House Republicans are all too eager to abide the administration’s desire to bolster Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s quixotic crusade to recover Crimea and the Donbas. Meanwhile, despite last month’s electoral disaster and grassroots Republicans crying out for change at the top, the entirety of what National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam has dubbed the GOP’s “McLeadership”—Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel—appears poised to remain in power. Republican leadership to the Republican rank-and-file: Shut up and go away.

It says nothing particularly good about the moral integrity of an individual who, for self-interested careerist purposes, seeks to lead an organization or movement while simultaneously harboring an intense disdain for the organization’s very rank-and-file. And organizations that feature such a yawning chasm between their leadership and grassroots elements typically face two options: The leadership can ameliorate the chasm by listening to or better accommodating the rank-and-file, or the organization will cease to exist. Because for the GOP, the status quo is simply unsustainable.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: bloggers; mcconnell; turtle
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1 posted on 12/09/2022 6:39:57 AM PST by Heartlander
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To: Heartlander

They believe that they can deal with the Devil and get more votes.....


2 posted on 12/09/2022 6:42:08 AM PST by G Larry ( "woke" means 'stupid enough to fall for the promotion of every human weakness into a virtue')
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To: Heartlander

The GOP elite are rinos.


3 posted on 12/09/2022 6:43:23 AM PST by chopperk
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To: Heartlander

All they care about is receiving their 30 pieces of silver for selling out this country to agenda 2030 the great reset. They could care less about this country or the supposed platform of the party.


4 posted on 12/09/2022 6:44:49 AM PST by patriot torch
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To: Heartlander

You have to define “its own base”. Its base is who puts him into power.


5 posted on 12/09/2022 6:47:06 AM PST by stanne
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To: Heartlander

.


6 posted on 12/09/2022 6:47:46 AM PST by griswold3 (Truth, Beauty and Goodness )
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To: Heartlander

Because we stand for everything that is right, just, true, decent, and moral

The elites stand for corruption, power and wealth


7 posted on 12/09/2022 6:47:50 AM PST by Bob434 (question)
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To: Heartlander

The GOOBer’s have had a problem with us since Slick Willie’s “wife” labeled us, “Da Deplorables.” LOL. When you piss of the party you most associate with, you know you’re doing it right.


8 posted on 12/09/2022 6:54:45 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Hey Amerika! The whole world is watching and laughing their asses off. )
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To: Heartlander

Because money is their entire northstar, and we get in the way. Not only THAT, but mostly the path to money involves schemes involving us involuntarily.


9 posted on 12/09/2022 6:55:12 AM PST by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: Heartlander

The GOP gig is just a front for them. There has to be some semblance of an opposing party, or you have all dems in power. So, they pretend they’re on the opposing side, make some noise now and again, then sign up for the same money laundering programs as the dems. They don’t care what dem policies are enacted, as it’s not going to affect them. They enjoy the massive amount of money and then pass it along so their kids are fine as well. It’s a scam that has been going on for years and years.

Rino + Dem = Uniparty. It’s Uniparty vs. MAGA, plain and simple.


10 posted on 12/09/2022 6:55:47 AM PST by JudyinCanada
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Because they are really democraps?


11 posted on 12/09/2022 6:56:37 AM PST by curious7
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To: Heartlander
The GOP base believes in God. The GOP eletes believe they are God
12 posted on 12/09/2022 7:00:45 AM PST by Cowman
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To: Heartlander

Because peasants are revolting…


13 posted on 12/09/2022 7:04:23 AM PST by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: Heartlander

“Why Does the GOP Elite Hate Its Own Base?”

Because we are not “their” voting base.
They don’t need votes to do what they want to do. They don’t need us.

Once we get our heads out of our arses and realize that we dont need them, then the revolution will take place.

“We Mutually Pledge To Each Other Our Lives, Our Fortunes, And Our Sacred Honor.”
It’s We/Us vs Them.
They want you dead, on life support as a tax donkey, or as cannon fodder for their next war.

Another $100 B for the criminals of Ukraine,
and Flint still has bad water
and many of OUR Heros are broken and homeless
and families scramble for baby formula
and you get fired for refusing the Kill Shot
and your savings evaporate due to inflation
your kids can’t buy a house

and you still vote for them?


14 posted on 12/09/2022 7:04:28 AM PST by Macoozie (Handcuffs and Orange Jumpsuits)
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To: JudyinCanada

Exactly right!. I love my country and always will. I feel sad these days knowing the deck is stacked against us. Different jerseys same team. Rinos love helping Dems achieve their goal.


15 posted on 12/09/2022 7:04:39 AM PST by PeachyKeen
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To: Heartlander; patriot torch; stanne; Bob434

Where is the outrage and the fighting back? I have posted the following facts here on FR about three times since the Georgia runoff. The truth is that Georgia Republican voters picked their nominee for US Senate with an overwhelmingly clear voice only to later see two statewide Republican office holders do everything to cancel the vote of the Georgia Republican base!

Georgia is not a blue state. Evil people, both democrat AND REPUBLICAN, threw everything awful they had at Herschel Walker and he still barely lost in a runoff that had phenomenal turnout.

====> The current Georgia Lt. Governor plus the current Georgia Secretary of Agriculture (a man whose 13.3% in the Republican primary was a far second place to Walker’s 68%.2) appeared in a TV ad against Walker and it was aired over and over. <====

These Georgia Republican so-called leaders negated the voice of Republican voters in Georgia with their own vindictiveness, sour grapes, and entitled attitudes.

This has to end. “Leaders” are not the ones to pick, the voters are. I voted for Walker in the primary, in the general, and in the runoff. I donated to his campaign. All my meager efforts didn’t stand a chance against a constantly aired commercial featuring GA Republican statewide office holders urging the state to NOT vote for our 68.2% nominee.
This is what really pizzes me off.


16 posted on 12/09/2022 7:04:44 AM PST by clashfan ( Vote to put Herschel in. Don't be afraid to let him carry the ball.)
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To: Heartlander

Simple answer... Because they are not GOP...


17 posted on 12/09/2022 7:06:25 AM PST by sit-rep ( )
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To: G Larry; All

G Larry said:

“They believe that they can deal with the Devil and get more votes.....”

Respectfully disagree. They don’t care about votes. They don’t care about winning. They care about enhancing their personal fortunes. They care about getting their crappy books published.

They care about MONEY and INFLUENCE. They don’t care about the party.


18 posted on 12/09/2022 7:08:14 AM PST by Scarlett156 (Catholics: We HATE you because you wrote a book. Also Catholics: We LOVE this cat-torturing guy!)
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To: Heartlander

Hate ‘em back. It works for me.


19 posted on 12/09/2022 7:08:55 AM PST by BlackbirdSST (Trump WON!!! He will win 2024!)
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To: Scarlett156

Hint: They don’t get money and influence without the votes.


20 posted on 12/09/2022 7:09:51 AM PST by G Larry ( "woke" means 'stupid enough to fall for the promotion of every human weakness into a virtue')
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