Briefly Noted: The Georgia Runoff
The Washington Examiner frames the Georgia runoff in terms of Trump somehow needing to protect his legacy:
If Trump wants Republicans to keep the Senate and protect his legacy, he needs to change his tune
President Trump says he wants Republicans to keep the Senate and will be campaigning in Georgia. But his persistent claims that the election was stolen from him and attacks on Georgia’s Republican leadership are fueling disillusionment that could backfire on conservatives and the Republican Party, and make Sen. Chuck Schumer the majority leader.
I get what they mean, to some degree--that Trump should want to preserve all his accomplishments. Which, the Examiner somehow fails to note, came about in spite of GOPe obstruction rather than because of any enthusiasm the Establishment had for the Trump agenda. The subtext, of course is: Please concede and graciously support those who may well do nothing to protect your legacy . Who could refuse an offer like that?
There might be reasons that Trump would follow that route, but right now Trump has larger responsibilities. Those responsibilities are not to a political party but to the American people who elected him--and as president he is the only public official elected by the general public of the entire nation. As president Trump represents the interests of an entire branch of government, as well as those of the population of the nation at large. That responsibility has to come before any lingering loyalty to those who undercut him to the maximum extent they were able.
And then there's this. What about the GOP as a party? What have they done lately to promote and protect their brand? To engender trust among the public?
Ted Cruz, to his credit, takes a forthrightly pragmatic approach. Rather than engage in phony appeals to Trump, he sets out the real issue in all its starkness:
I don’t know who this clown is, but anyone saying America would be better off w/ Chuck Schumer as Majority Leader—producing huge tax increases, the Green New Deal, massive amnesty & a packed Supreme Court destroying the Bill of Rights—is trying to mislead the people of Georgia. https://t.co/jtEPT2UtzF
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 3, 2020
Notice what Cruz isn't saying. He isn't suggesting that Georgians can reasonably be enthused about the choice they face. He's simply saying: Consider the alternatives. That's honest. He's not trying to kid anyone about the dysfunction that Democracy in America has descended into. This is a holding action, he seems to say.