If we were to build a political swamp museum in Washington, DC, I would suggest that Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) have a special exhibit on the first floor. A district that voted for Donald Trump by 23 points. Simpson Since 1999 VotedEd For all the bills that have made our government what it is today.
Simpson is one of the biggest spenders in the entire Congress as a liberal. He’s a staunch supporter of DACA amnesty and unlimited work visas for illegal immigrants, and a longtime supporter of redefining marriage. And, of course, he’s also… Opposition to Trump upon Multiple OpportunitiesIf we are to change our one-party system, we must cut easily available talent like Mike Simpson out of the androgynous Republican family tree.
It’s hard not to notice that while Trump’s support for bad incumbents is foolproof, his support for good incumbents is hit or miss at best.
But surprisingly, Trump endorsed Simpson ahead of this week’s primary election, along with nearly every other liberal Republican facing any kind of challenge.
This is no longer a matter of whimsical support for establishment supporters, driven by a few egos. Trump has become the instrument of defeat, and will support all Republicans when challengers emerge. Vacant seats in heavily Republican states are being filled with Trump’s help to elect new McConnell-esque Republicans. Trump has even gone so far as to intervene in state legislatures to undermine the Freedom Caucus’ efforts to transform the party from a McConnell Republican to a Trump Republican, or at least the Republican Party that Trump was thought to represent.
Before Trump’s rise, conservatives were struggling to break away from a corrupt and antiquated Republican system in which well-known, well-funded incumbents and candidates played to the interests of the wealthy and used their deep pockets in primaries to ingratiate themselves with their conservative base.
Rewarding enemies and punishing would-be allies
What we needed was a strong figure who could help struggling candidates with funding and name recognition actually get elected, and who could realign the party’s priorities to those of voters, not donors.
On the surface, Donald Trump was just the right man for the job. He ran on the platform of clearing the way and being a new kind of Republican, constantly touting his wealth as a shield against undue influence from special interests. He could have backed a Freedom Caucus-like candidate for every open seat. He could have even backed a challenger to the incumbent.
After five terms in which Trump controlled the party, conservative organizations and conservative media, he could have easily changed the face of the party. But the opposite has happened.
Those who voted for the budget, foreign aid, and FISA reauthorization had at least a hard time in the primaries, even if they were unlikely to lose, but now their chances of reelection are 100% guaranteed, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) automatically endorsing Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell’s preferred candidates.
With a few exceptions, Trump has endorsed every incumbent who voted for bad legislation, and intends to continue doing so in the remaining primaries unless pressured to stop.
In the past, Trump has clashed with incumbents who “said bad things” about him, which often coincided with our strategic interest in removing incumbents whose policies he found questionable, but by endorsing someone like Mike Simpson, Trump is now endorsing the worst of the worst, including his past opponents.
This isn’t about reflexively backing incumbents, either. In last Tuesday’s primaries, Trump endorsed every liberal Republican in Kentucky and Georgia except Thomas Massie, a move some might attribute to past differences. But in places like Indiana, Trump refused to endorse conservative incumbent Victoria Spaatz in a tough reelection race, even though Spaatz has never run against Trump. Meanwhile, Trump endorsed little-known Republican James Baird over a conservative challenger in Spaatz’s neighboring district.
It’s hard not to notice that while Trump’s support for bad incumbents is foolproof, his support for good incumbents is hit or miss at best.
Is Trump trying to make Republican-leaning states more moderate?
With Trump re-filling the congressional swamp, perhaps the best thing we can do is build conservative bulwarks in state legislatures and turn Republican states Republican again. The State Freedom Network has transformed the way legislatures and primaries are run in Republican states. Nowhere is this more evident than in South Carolina, where the Freedom Network is waging the exact same campaign to challenge liberal Republicans, many of whom were Democrats until recently.
But South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and liberal Republicans called for the airstrikes for the first time to allow President Trump to interfere in congressional primaries and endorse most of the incumbents the Freedom Caucus is targeting.
The South Carolina Freedom Caucus, staunch supporters of Trump, literally worked hard to secure a primary challenger to the Republican leadership. Republican in name onlyBut Trump Approved them allThese include Vice Majority Leader Jay West, who supported John Kerry, and Carla Schussler, who supported Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.
While Trump did endorse several incumbent Freedom Caucus members, including Thomas Beach, Jay Kilmartin, Mike Burns and Bill Comely, he refused to endorse 10 other incumbent conservative senators facing liberal challengers, including people like Rob Harris, who has supported Trump since day one.
It’s always been a one-way street with a left curve. Now liberal challengers are sending letters arguing that conservative incumbents are so bad that even Trump wouldn’t support them, creating confusion at a time when voters need clarity most.
These endorsements, combined with Trump’s leftward shift on issues like abortion, Obamacare, Bud Light, abolishing the FBI, Ukraine war funding, and bailing out Speaker Johnson, are ominous. The man who once claimed his personal wealth would protect him from the left-wing advances of unscrupulous Republican donors is now desperate to pay his legal bills and is willing to give his donors whatever they want.
There is still plenty of time before the election. It is not too late to get back on track.
