The 2022 election was supposed to be such a "red wave" that Republicans were gleeful months right up until the end. But the Republican Party failed to live up to the hype on Election Day.
While many were quick to blame Donald Trump, because his candidates seemed to fare worse, the Washington Post argues that it was more than that.
First, the internal fighting with Republicans caused serious problems. There is the Donald Trump wing of the GOP and the Mitch McConnell wing. For Trump candidate choice is based on fealty to him. For McConnell, it's about who can win. Then came Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who took some of the quieter GOP policies and brought them out into written form for all to see.
Scott's plan was announced at the start of the summer. For years, Republicans have talked about cuts to Social Security and Medicare, but Scott's plan put the plan in writing. To make matters worse, Scott's plan was trounced shortly after its announcement by McConnell, who made it clear there would be no changes to the longtime programs.
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"Historic tail winds" for the GOP "collided with the fractious reality of a political party in the midst of a generational molting," said the Post. "GOP leaders spent much of the last year fighting against each other or plotting against their own primary voters. They were hobbled by unprepared first-time candidates, fundraising shortfalls and Trump, whose self-concern required constant attention — right up to the eve of the election, when he forced party bosses to beg him once again to delay a presidential campaign announcement."
McConnell came out early saying that there was little chance that they would take back the Senate. He openly admitted it was due to the GOP's terrible candidates. It isn't exactly the best way to raise money as a candidate or a party committee like Scott's NRSC.
At a meeting with Republicans McConnell told the room to send 20 percent of their cash from their leadership PACs to the Senate Leadership Fund. He was standing with Scott who was trying to urge a unified GOP to support the NRSC and Senate candidates.
“The way it was perceived in the room was ‘Don’t give your money to NRSC. Give to SLF,’” the Post quoted one person who was at the meeting. “And absolutely that hurt our candidates.”
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Major donors then stopped fulfilling their fall pledges to the NRSC. McConnell's cash was rolling in, however. Then McConnell spoke out against the candidates backed by Trump, implying that they were just as crazy as previous republicans like Tod Akin, who claimed not all rapes were "legitimate," and that women's bodies have the power to stop a pregnancy magically if she is raped. It cost him the election and his name went down in history.
Delaware candidate Christine O'Donnell was brought back into the nation's political consciousness. In a 1999 appearance on Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect," she talked about dabbling in witchcraft. In an attempt to stop the scandal, she did an ad explaining to voters, "I'm not a witch," which then led to even more ridicule.
These were the candidates that McConnell compared the 2022 candidates to.
“They made it very clear early on they were not going to include anybody in their strategy, leadership or not,” strategist Josh Holmes said of the NRSC. “So McConnell decided to do his own thing. He wanted to get as much money in SLF as possible.”
Scott responded by violating Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment of speaking ill against a fellow Republican. He published an op-ed calling his GOP critics “treasonous.” Behind the scenes, Scott's allies claimed that the only thing McConnell cared about was ensuring his own political leadership.
Add all of that to GOP delusion about American attitudes on abortion access and government intrusion. Male GOP consultants also spent the weeks leading into the election underestimating female concerns about abortion access. They claimed that women cared more about inflation than having their rights taken away. They were wrong. Republican candidates doubling down on restrictions just made things worse for themselves.
That in addition to Trump's demand for the undying love of candidates he supported and a host of rallies that relitigated the 2020 election all contributed to not just the nail in the coffin, but multiple nails that profoundly limited the GOP's ability to ensure the red wave actually happened.
