Thirty million dollars. An uninterrupted barrage of radio and television attack ads, mailers, social media advertisements. Big data and a well-executed ground game comprised of hundreds of permanent and non-permanent staff. President Trump’s tweets.
Yet down fell Senator Luther Strange. It was a stunning result – a nine-point blowout in a race that most pundits and analysts expected to be competitive. It wasn’t.
Rewind.
A little over two years ago, America’s best-known billionaire descended down the escalator to deliver the speech that would forever change American politics. Bold, brash, unfiltered – it was everything that political consultants had for years been trained to avoid. But there were no consultants – in their place were thousands of Americans voters, packed like sardines into venues that rarely went unfilled.
The consultants, meanwhile, watched in agony as their choreographed, buttoned-up candidates stood frozen on the debate stage as they were jeered and ridiculed by an opponent who had no interest in learning the rules of the game. Middle America cackled in delight, delivering record ratings as it tuned in to the political equivalent of an MMA fight. Suddenly, politics was accessible – and fun – for ordinary people.
2016 didn’t just change the rules of the game – though many are content to stop there – it changed the players. Even as the beltway establishment correctly warned of the alienation of moderate voters and independents, it failed to anticipate the tidal wave of new voters that rushed to fill the void.
These new Republicans hate choreography. They hate prepared speeches and political correctness, hors d’oeuvres and hobnobbery. More than anything, they hate excuses.
With them, the Republican Party has the opportunity to become stronger than ever before. As the lunatic fringe of the Democrat Party stoops to vandalism and violence, the no-bullshit patriotism of the so-called “new right” has the potential to grow the Republican tent to new heights.
Or, the party can continue to drain its accounts propping up failed candidates.
Thirty million dollars. Choose wisely.
9 comments
Excellent! Entirely accurate. Mr. Trump made a mistake. (He’s not perfect.) But he can recover from it by supporting Judge Moore in the general election. Let’s hope he does.
The true lesson of Alabama is that Trump’s success is not personality driven, despite what the media likes to portray. His supporters like his policies; they are not mind-numbed robots that follow Trump blindly. Americans will dump Trump in a heartbeat if he strays from the policies that got him elected, and they will support him vigorously, despite his personality, if he keeps doing what he promised to do.
So we can expect the old Zebras in the Republican Party to say to us;
Look I am not White with Black stripes
I am Black with White stripes.
Be wary of the Cantors trying to position themselves in front of wave.
Outstanding analysis.
Brian just described the nightmare that RPV/RNC functionaries can never awaken from…because it’s the New Reality. AND WE LOVE IT! Roy Moore is the first of a Tsunami rolling in to clean out the GOP Loser Guard that presided over the post Reagan disaster of 1988-2016. If you are young LEARN FAST & WIN! Get away from any Old Fart Loser whining about President Trump. Those dopes are headed to the Glue Factory on an Express Trump Train! Time to TAKE BACK AMERICA! Any Weak Sister, like Ben Sasse or Erick Erickson is TOAST. The RINO Hunt has begun in earnest. ENJOY THE PURGE! #MAGA
Mr. Landrum:
You do not state it clearly.
Should Roy Moore be elected to the United States Senate from Alabama?
Well done to Brian M.H. Landrum for “Lessons from Alabama.” What he describes is Donald Trump hitting a nerve, the “truth nerve,” among many of us.
We’ve known for decades that the DLLP movement (democrat, liberal, leftist, progressive) runs on a platform of lies about how the world works. Most of their energy is expended defending the lies to various factions. But … they are honestly committed to executing their agenda, even in its full dishonesty.
The old guard of the Republican party say the right words and point to valid conservative principles even though it is increasingly clear that they never intend to act on them.
Thus, the “truth nerve” is irritated between the embrace of untruth by one party and the unwillingness to act on accepted truth by the other.
Lessons, from Alabama and elsewhere, are for learners. The “new right” appears to be learning that they can exert influence and cause change, while old guard Republicans seem to be stuck where they are. The question is whether the “new right” can promote effective leaders, articulate honest principles, and grow their numbers.
Ich spreche Deutsch sehr gut. Statt “Einfach Mensch” sollen Sie “Einfacher Mensch” oder “Der Einfache Mensch” schreiben. It depends on what you want to say – “a simple man” or “the simple man.”
I believe Einfach Mensch means “simply a man,” since Einfach is the adverbial form.
Auch, man sagt “Ich kann Deutsch sehr gut.”