GOP Leaders, Listen to Your Base by Jeff Crouere

On Wednesday, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the last of the Republican Party “Mc-Failures,” announced his retirement from his leadership position. As GOP Senate leader for 17 years, McConnell can boast of the longest tenure in congressional history.

He will vacate his party position this year, allowing for a new leader to take office in January of 2025, following an election among Senate Republicans. McConnell said he intends to continue serving in the U.S. Senate through the end of his term in January of 2027.

McConnell’s decision follows the removal of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last year and the upcoming departure of Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel this week.

The three “Mc-Failures,” a term coined by Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL), needed to be replaced because of their mediocre performance and their lack of responsiveness to the dominant Make America Great Again (MAGA) base of the Republican Party.

Last October, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) replaced McCarthy. While his tenure has been rocky, filled with multiple missteps, there is little doubt he is more conservative than his predecessor. He is also keenly aware of the dominance of the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.

Fortunately, Speaker Johnson has been holding the line against immediately passing an aid package for Ukraine. In a meeting at the White House with the President, Vice President and congressional leaders, Johnson was the only one insisting that a border security bill should be the top priority.

Following McDaniel’s resignation, a new RNC Chair will be elected on Thursday in Houston. The new RNC leader should be North Carolina RNC Chair Michael Whatley, who received the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

Trump was impressed by Whatley’s focus on “election integrity” issues in North Carolina. It was the only “swing state” that delivered their electoral votes to Trump in 2020. According to Trump, Whatley is “a man who’s going to watch the cheating.” 

Whatley says he will “work around the clock to file aggressive litigation where needed” and “recruit and train tens of thousands of poll watchers and poll workers.” This is exactly what the MAGA base of the GOP wants to hear in anticipation of the all-important presidential election in November.

What makes the upcoming presidential election so important? For working-class Americans, the stakes have never been higher. Our country faces an open border, a poor economy, a declining military force, multiple wars overseas and renewed worries of nuclear conflict and annihilation.

Americans are economically suffering at home and our country’s reputation is being damaged abroad. The administration of President Joe Biden is both dangerously left-wing and incompetent, a noxious combination.

Fortunately, the American people have soured on the radical and misguided policies of President Biden. If the presidential election were held today, multiple polls show that Trump would be victorious over Biden.

In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, Trump leads Biden 48-43% overall. Amazingly, the poll also indicates Trump holds a 46-40% lead over Biden among Hispanic voters, traditionally a key Democratic Party voting bloc.

Why are Hispanics turning against Biden and the Democrats? In an interview with Fox News, Campus Reform correspondent Pedro Rodriguez said “Under Biden’s leadership, leftist policies have hurt young Americans. Financial insecurity is among the highest it’s ever been with young Hispanics.”

Rodriguez believes that “Young Hispanics are going to flock behind the candidate they can support and champion working-class families, reduce inflation and pave the way for better economic and entrepreneurial opportunities here in the United States and not desecrate the American way of life.”

Unlike Democrats and establishment Republicans, President Trump speaks directly to the economic concerns of working-class Americans. His message is resonating with voters of all races and economic classes, but especially among those who are struggling under Biden’s economic policies.

Beginning with his 2015 presidential campaign announcement, Trump started the slow transformation of the Republican Party. His MAGA message sharply contrasted with the focus of many establishment Republicans on globalism, nation building, international wars, “free trade,” open borders and putting America “last.”

Trump’s “America First” message prevailed, and he won the GOP nomination in 2016 and 2020 and he will win it again this summer. Today, Trump’s philosophy is dominant among the activists and volunteers in the Republican Party, who are the base of the GOP.

It is time that Republican Senators chose a leader who agrees with these activists and the MAGA agenda.

Unfortunately, McConnell has been at odds with the MAGA movement and Trump from the day the President announced his campaign in 2015. In the beginning of McConnell’s tenure as Senate Republican leader, in 2007, his views were closely aligned with the GOP President George W. Bush. While the Republican Party has changed since then, McConnell has not, so his departure is necessary.

When President Trump is hopefully elected in November, he will need a Senate Republican leader, who will support his agenda. As U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures, his Republican Senate colleagues must “use this leadership election to turn the page on Republican Senate leadership. You cannot have a Senate Republican leader who is far more obsessed with securing Ukraine’s border than he is focused on the American border. You can’t have a Senate Republican leader who seems to ooze hatred and dismay for the very people who vote most of the Republican elected leaders.”

Vance believes that the “base” of the GOP is filled with “good people” and the party “should be listening to them more than we do. But you can’t have another establishment politician who seems to dislike the people who actually vote for the Republican Party.”

He said the “focus” must be on “getting a Republican leader who I think is trusted by the broad majority of Republicans. That’s the most important thing. And that’s what’s actually going to help us win elections and govern.” Well said Senator Vance, you are exactly right.

Written by Jeff Crouere

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com.

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