Just seven years ago, Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Michigan since George H.W. Bush. But as the state GOP moved further and further to the right, Democrats capitalized on the extremism to string together major victories in 2018, 2020, and 2022, when they took full control of the state government for the first time in four decades. In the wake of this rout, the GOP has doubled down. Karamo’s ascension to chair is what a Republican Party freed from the constraints imposed by consultants and donors looks like in the Trump era. It is messy, short on cash, and arguably more democratic than ever before.
While Karamo and her supporters fixate on “election integrity” and culture war issues like transgender rights, convinced that it will lead to future victories, ousted moderates look on with schadenfreude. This battleground state fissure is a gift to President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and Democrats’ efforts to hold an open Senate seat that is essential to maintaining control of the chamber.
Once upon a time, Republican leadership were smart but evil people who fed lies to their base but understood that they were lying. Since they weren’t actually delusional, they could choose the most politically useful lies and abandon the ones that didn’t poll well.
Enough people believed their lies that the new generation of Republicans are True Believers. They’ve lost the ability to tailor their message to the political climate because it’s no longer seen as just a bunch of crap to please the base, but TRUTH. Except that it’s not actually true, so their policies fail.
This is the inevitable result of governing through falsehood. Objective reality can not be gaslit, and abandoning it never works out well long-term.
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Once some of them did. But Nixon didn’t believe in Jack shit. Nixon would’ve ran as a fucking communist if it was what was best for his chances. Same for Reagan. Then you’ve got Goldwater who believed in things, just not good things.
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The frightening part here is that one party rule rarely lasts, and most voters won’t be paying attention to the truly sick and twisted views of these people. So eventually, when the economy tanks or there’s some scandal, voters will want change and the fascists will be waiting in the wings for their moment.
In early June, roughly 250 Michiganders filed into a windowless banquet hall for the Macomb County GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner. The dining tables were decorated with white tablecloths, tiny American flags, and famous Lincoln quotes, while the silent auction display off to the side featured Trump Wine, a cardboard cutout of Donald and Melania, and 30 mm rounds the size of a baby’s torso that had “Jesus is Lord!” etched into the shells.
I really find that last bit horrifying. Jebus is lord, child.
What in the actual fuck‽
It sounds like the sort of thing put on by the Michigan militia. That group is notoriously a bunch of right wing gun nuts.
Gotta keep momentum going here in Michigan while the GOP is down. We’ve been doing some GREAT things so far, and I hope we can push further left.
Our governor is pretty great, but she is the daughter of the former CEO of Blue Cross of Michigan, so we’ll never get universal healthcare here under her watch.
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