Republicans fear the fight between former President Trump
Donald Trump UN report says Erik Prince violated arms embargo on Libya: Lee report after Romney impeachment vote: There is plenty of room in GOP ‘for both of us’ Nunes lawsuit against CNN thrown out MORE and leader of the minorities in the Senate Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell On The Money: What’s next for Neera Tanden’s nomination The Elephant in the Room: Trump’s Dragging Power 17 Public Attorneys Call for K in Student Loan Debt MORE (R-Ky.) May torpedo their efforts to regain majorities in the House and Senate by 2022.
GOP agents think they will be able to flip both rooms if they can run into them President Biden
Joe BidenREAD: House Democrats’ Mammoth COVID-19 Relief Act House Panel Reveals .9T Aid Package Nunes Lawsuit Against CNN Thrown Out MOREagenda and avoid a devastating civil war.
Democrats cling to the smallest majority in Parliament in modern times and a 50-50 divide in the Senate. Historically, the party is losing seats in its first mid-term cycle to the new government.
But Republicans fear they could throw those opportunities away amid the nasty feud that broke out between Trump and McConnell over the party’s future.
The split could weigh on fundraising, dampen turnout, alienate changing voters and push bad candidates for general elections through divided primary fields, Republicans say.
Veteran GOP agent Brian Walsh pointed to the recent GOP failures in Georgia as evidence of the kind of disaster that awaits as Republicans fight themselves on the way to election day.
Trump’s allegations of systematic voter fraud tore the party up in the run-up to the Georgian Senate layoffs, affecting turnout among Trump supporters in the northern part of the state and right-leaning voters in the suburbs.
Republicans lost close races for both seats in the traditionally red state, costing them a majority in the Senate.
“The rhetoric and false accusations have certainly influenced the rise in Georgia,” Walsh said. When Republicans talk about personal grievances, it detracts from the effort to regain the majority. The scenery, at least to start this cycle, is not very favorable to Republicans, so every seat will matter here. “
In private, many Republicans think they will win back the House before the Senate.
Republicans must win less than 10 seats to take back the majority in the House after turning over 15 seats in the final cycle.
In the Senate, the map is a tricky one for Republicans.
There are pickups in purple states like Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and New Hampshire, but Trump lost all of those states in 2020.
Republicans also defend Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two swing states that Trump lost in 2020 but won in 2016. A GOP seat is opening in North Carolina, which Trump barely won.
McConnell and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy17 Public Attorney General Calls for K Cancellation of Student Loan Debt Trump-McConnell Gap Splits GOP Donors Trump Refused Meeting Nikki Haley in Mar-a-Lago MORE (California) have taken several paths with Trump that could affect how some of those races go.
McCarthy, whose caucus is full of Trump supporters, continues to hold Trump as the leader of the GOP. McConnell is urging his party to leave Trump.
There are plenty of unanswered questions about Trump’s involvement in 2022, including whether he is raising money for Senate Republicans and how aggressively he will support primary challengers.
Trump’s allies say it is possible the Trump-McConnell feud won’t explode in the massive civil war everyone expects if McConnell pulls out. Trump is known to move from target to target quickly and he likes to support winners.
But as the fight continues to escalate, they say McConnell has met an opponent in Trump who has the full backing of a majority of Republicans and a fundraising operation to match.
“If it’s important to you that Republicans have a successful cycle in the Senate, it’s best that Mitch and everyone around him take a step back and take a deep breath and hope some of these issues go away on their own on Trump’s side.” said a former advisor to Trump’s campaigns.
“Constantly poking Trump in the eye is not conducive to the success of the GOP in the Senate and it is not a fair fight,” the adviser said. “Usually the fight is rigged against anti-establishment types, but this time it’s totally rigged against Mitch and the establishment, because 80 percent of our voters disagree with him and he is no longer confronted with someone he is a huge part of. financial benefit. “
McConnell’s primary goal in reprimanding Trump appears to be to rid the party of the fringe candidates who have lost winable races in the past and get nonstop media attention as they reach Washington.
Republicans remember the Tea Party’s primary fights all too clearly, blaming the wicked rebellious candidates for losing at least five winable Senate races between 2010 and 2012.
By denouncing the worst elements of Trump’s base and House members such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), McConnell hopes to rally Republicans behind mainstream conservatives who can win primaries and general elections.
“Mitch believes we can win back the Senate if we recruit good candidates into some of those Democratic seats and support them with money and expertise,” said Charlie Black, a veteran GOP agent. “He has a good track record there. Trump, of course, comes into play when he competes in some of these races and supports right-wing candidates. But these are swing states and should not be placed in Trump’s hands. Hand them over to good candidates and give them the support of the national party. “
The tension between Trump and McConnell has made life difficult for Senator Rick Scott (Fla.), Who leads this cycle of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
McConnell is deeply involved with the NRSC, but Scott is close to Trump.
The Florida Senator is pushing for unity among the Republicans as the cycle heats up.
He and other Republicans hope they can move on from fighting between parties and focus on the Democratic agenda.
“We have a long, long way to go between now and election day,” said a Republican Senate aide. “The Democrats in Congress are helping to slow the reopening of schools and are pursuing radical policies such as open borders, higher taxes and the Green New Deal. Republicans are united against that agenda and will rally to beat it at the polls in 2022. “