I was talking to some old friends today. Mostly we were discussing a get-together at the end of April. But one of us mentioned watching a clip of Kamala Harris at a press conference in Poland. I replied that I had seen it and my reaction was that she’s a blithering idiot. He disagreed. He was sure that some kind of tragic neurological accident must have recently rendered her unable to speak coherent English. I countered that the event wasn’t recent, it was her birth. I speculated that she might be one of those rare cases where the attending obstetrician drops the newborn on her head. That seemed the least unlikely explanation. After all, if the event happened right at the beginning of her tenure on Earth, then no one would notice any decrease in intelligence.
We left that speculation and talked about the prospects for reform of our present disastrous status quo. We all agreed that the Republicans would regain control of both houses of Congress. But I asked what good would that change do for us? The Idiot in Chief would still be in office for two more years and the damage already done to the economy and every other facet of life in these United States would continue to afflict us.
My friends were of the opinion that the push back that we’re seeing in places like Florida and Texas over puberty blockers for young children and CRT in the classroom and men competing in women’s sports showed that the pendulum was swinging in our direction decisively. And further they were excited by the news that Latino voters were trending Republican and that Hispanic women were running for office as Republicans in Texas. To my friends all of these things were undeniable proof that we were “winning.”
I told them that I had seen this script play out before. I reminded them that Ronald Reagan was followed by George Bush and Bill Clinton. I reminded them that some of the worst cultural damage was done under Republican presidencies. And some of the worst Supreme Court decisions were made by Republican appointees. My point was that I did not doubt that America would respond to the awful policies and actions of federal and local Democratic leaders by voting for Republicans to replace them. My doubt was that the Republicans would use the opportunity to change things for the better. This was answered with rueful agreement.
Then we talked about who should be the 2024 Republican presidential candidate. Both of these guys were convinced that Donald Trump should not be the candidate. They wanted Ron DeSantis and added that a Latina should be the Veep candidate. I said I liked DeSantis but that unless Trump declined to run DeSantis would not be able to claim the mantle. This was greeted with silence.
These friends of mine are a good stand-in for the mainstream of the party. They are conservatives but they worry that Trump is too divisive. They want someone who attracts groups like suburban women. I think they’re wrong. Trump attracts the right people. He received more votes in 2020 than any Republican candidate before him. He will get enough votes as long as the count is honest. I think the ticket should be Trump/DeSantis. I think DeSantis will bring the political managerial savvy and Trump will bring his instincts.
The conversation I had today reinforced in me what I imagined mainstream conservative opinions run to. There is optimism that a rejection at the ballot box is coming in November. This optimism seems overblown and doesn’t question whether the Republicans will blow the opportunity to roll back some of the damage to the culture and laws. Also, I see the white-collar Republicans continue to misunderstand Donald Trump’s appeal to the non-elitist components of the United States population. What this tells me is that a lot more education will still have to happen before we’re past believing in the GOP establishment. But it was, on the whole, a reasonably lucid discussion. No one mentioned Marco Rubio or Nikki Haley. No one freaked out about the Supreme Court ruling in favor of abortion restrictions. People are waking up.