Some Republicans in the state of Georgia are lamenting the turn their party has taken under former President Donald Trump, as many of them blame him for twice costing them United States Senate elections.
In interviews with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, several longtime Republicans in the state expressed concern about how Trump has turned politics into a nonstop spectacle that has alienated swing voters throughout the country.
Ed Henderson, an officer with the Rabun County GOP, argued that moderate forces within the Georgia GOP needed to be more forceful in retaking their party from MAGA extremists who keep losing them elections.
"You have a complete divorce between what 1,500 activists want and common sense,” he said. “We’re a party now of performance artists. And extremism sells.”
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This extremism will be on display this weekend at the Georgia Republican Party's annual convention, where former Vice President Mike Pence has been replaced as a keynote speaker by Kari Lake, the former local TV news anchor and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate who still hasn't conceded her loss despite having all of her legal challenges thrown out of court.
Kerry Luedke, a former Cherokee County GOP chair who was targeted by right-wing activists to be barred from attending the convention, nonetheless tells the AJC that she's attending this weekend, though she's not hopeful she'll change any minds.
“What do I hope to get out of this convention?” Luedke asked. “I’m not really sure — except to say that I hope to represent all of the noncrazy Republican women who are out there.”