According to conservative Matt Lewis, the Republican Party has not only done little to try and reclaim voters who fled the party because of Donald Trump, but are keeping them on the sidelines because of GOP lawmakers who are toeing the Trump line.
In his column for the Daily Beast, Lewis sounded the alarm that Republicans will make little gains in upcoming elections if they don't woo back the "Never Trumpers" who are equally appalled by the new generation of conservative lawmakers like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Madison Cawthorn (R-NC).
For good measure, Lewis included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) who is getting wrapped up in the investigation into the Jan. 6th Capitol riot.
While Lews notes that Democrats aren't doing enough to hang onto the voters who fled the GOP after four years of Trump's scandals, he wrote that the Republican Party is also not taking advantage of the fact that Trump is no longer in office after becoming "the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose the White House, the U.S. Senate, and the House."
"You would think that they might want to learn from Trump's losses and woo conservative voters who couldn't in good conscience vote for the Republican nominee in 2020 back into the fold," Lewis wrote while highlighting that even pro-Trump Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) recently admitted the former president lost his state in 2020 because tens of thousands of Republican voters stayed home.
"You would think that this evidence would spur Republicans to find a way to win back the tens of thousands of conservative-leaning swing-state voters who specifically chose not to vote for Trump in 2020. But you'd be wrong, of course," he wrote before adding, "Trump's loss and subsequent incitement of an insurrection have done little to alienate Republicans. He has, instead, inspired political disciples like Madison Cawthorn, who now refers to the Jan. 6 rioters as 'political hostages,' and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is threatening to "shut down" telecommunications companies who comply with the House Select Committee's request to preserve phone records from that infamous day."
As for senior Republican McCarthy, Lewis pointed out, "....if you think citing Greene is an example of 'nutpicking,' recognize that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has gone so far as to warn these companies that 'a Republican majority will not forget.'"
That type of rhetoric, he maintained should send a chill through the Republican Party looking to reclaim both chambers of Congress in 2020.
"For these reasons and more, decent, sane, center-right Americans cannot support the GOP," he bluntly stated before later adding, "Meanwhile, we have a vital chunk of gettable voters just sitting out there waiting for a sane, centrist party that won't lie to them—a competent party that isn't evil and doesn't take them for granted. It's like both sides are singing those Green Day lyrics, 'I want to be the minority,' but since someone has to win, one side will."
You can read more here (subscription required).
