Will Republicans — Once Again — Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory?
by Armando Simón
About a month ago, I wrote an article in this venue pleading, “For the Love of God Would You Please Stop Being Stupid?” as a reaction to the moronic election ads that for years Republicans have loved to run.
At a time when Democrats are so vulnerable with their disintegration of the border, with Afghanistan, inflation, runaway crime, drag queens in schools, with the astronomical deficit, the imminent destruction of the economy, the lockdowns that put people out of work while they continued to collect government salaries, have the mouthbreathing Republican politicians, or the wannabee Republican politicians, capitalized on this?
Nope.
From the ads I have seen, they are running the same old crap.
Simply put, we cannot count on people remembering. People are easily distracted by shiny objects. Besides, a lot of nonpolitical people and clueless persons get their information from the media hivemind (because Republicans only preach to the choir).
At a local level, you will see plenty of yard signs with just candidates’ names on them, as if voters will be enchanted with the sound of their names and vote in their favor. “Oh, wow, look at that name! Yeah, I’m going to vote for him! I like that name!”
Republicans, of course, are being complacent because some polls state that they have an edge and yes, it is possible that they may win a (slim) majority in the House and/or Senate, so they continue with the same old crap.
But under the circumstances, it should be a tsunami.
Take for example a battleground race in south Texas where Republican Cassie Garcia is running against Democrat Henry Cuellar. The Garcia ad says that Cuellar has forgotten Texas, that he has private planes, and close friends with the corrupt establishment, etc. Meanwhile, Cuellar is hitting back hard, focusing on panicking the elderly, saying that Garcia will do away with Social Security.
Cuellar’s claim is based on some Republicans targeting Social Security and Medicare.
Can anything be more stupid? Especially in an election year? Are Republican politicians that stupid?
Yes, they are. They are not targeting useless, bloated, malignant bureaucracies like the Department of Education or the Department of Energy, or eliminating all foreign aid. No. Oh, no. They are targeting Social Security and Medicare in order to cut down the deficit.
Riiiiight.
And here is a train wreck of Tudor Dixon’s ad for Michigan governor, where victory should be a cakewalk (try not to vomit while watching it).
Now, contrast that ad with this gem.
Here is an ad (among others) that I proposed to the local Republican Party to run in a metropolitan area in newspapers, maybe billboards, or flyers, with a translation for the Spanish newspaper:
DON’T LET TEXAS BECOME CALIFORNIA
California now grinds dead people into compost. Fact!
California now makes it illegal for doctors to give different medical opinions. Fact!
California officially makes it illegal to sell gas-powered cars and trucks starting in
2035. Fact!
California has drag queen shows in middle schools and libraries where they twerk
in front of children’s faces. Fact!
California still has mask mandates. Fact!
DON’T LET TEXAS BECOME CALIFORNIA
VOTE REPUBLICAN
The reaction? A vacant stare.
It was not run.
The ad in the newspaper reaching over 800,000 readers would have cost a mere $1,600.
And then, there are the establishment Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney, who are doing everything possible to backstab new, fresh candidates.
I am not the only writer who has been scathing on the blunders, the lost opportunities, and the stupidity of Republican politicians. The past four years have seen numerous warning signs, fulminations and pleas.
The Republican politicians assure us that the midterm election is going to be a major victory, but looking at the polls, it appears that they may barely squeak by.
I could be wrong, of course. It may be a huge victory, assuming that the public has become aware of everything that is going on and realizes that the media hivemind is keeping a lot of information censored from the public.
We will soon see.
First published in Issues and Insights.
Armando Simón is the author of “A Cuban from Kansas” and “the Book of Many Books.”