GOP may soon regret making Dems' 'dream candidate' Mike Johnson their leader: analysis

House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could become a lightning rod in next year's midterm elections, and his extremism could endanger the Republican majority.

The Louisiana Republican was a little-known back-bencher until he came out on top following a three-week scramble to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), but MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen said Johnson would be a "dream candidate" for Democrats to run against.

"Johnson is a Trump-loving, election-denying, abortion ban-supporting, gay rights-opposing, climate change-rejecting, and conspiracy-believing conservative," Cohen wrote. "If House Democrats are smart, they will turn Mike Johnson into a household name — though not in a good way."

"On practically every issue on which House Republicans will be vulnerable in 2024," he added, "Johnson takes an extreme, maximalist position."

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Johnson was one of the architects of Donald Trump's scheme to overturn his 2020 election loss, and he has co-sponsored legislation to restrict abortion access at the national level, called homosexuality "sinful and destructive" and promoted the white nationalist "great replacement" theory – all of which Democrats will remind voters.

"With a razor-thin five-seat majority, Republicans already faced a difficult path to holding on to the House," Cohen wrote. "Democrats are already near-guaranteed to pick up a seat in Alabama after the Supreme Court forced the state to create a second, majority-black district. Similar rulings in Georgia and ongoing cases in Louisiana and Florida could add another 2-3 seats to the Democratic side of the ledger."

"So, with all else being equal, Republicans have a very real chance of entering the 2024 campaign season essentially tied with Democrats," Cohen added. "Now their most vulnerable members, in districts won by Biden, face the added challenge of having to defend their votes in support of Johnson for speaker."