After the 2022 cycle, Republican voters were begging GOP Senators to oust McConnell as the Senate Minority Leader, but they again elected him to office.
We are now paying the price, as Democrats are crushing GOP candidates in the upcoming Senate races.
The last election we had of note was in 2016. From that point forward, all the GOP did was lose.
We lost the House in 2018, then we lost the White House and Senate in 2020, Democrats extending their lead in the Senate in 2022 with Republicans taking a razor-thin majority in the House (we were told this would be a red tsunami), and 2023 was disappointing, with only a handful of local wins and a very disappointing election in Kentucky and Virginia.
The common denominator in these elections was Senate Minority Leader McConnell (R-CA), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.
Conservatives demanded change atop GOP leadership, but all three names returned to their leadership roles.
This last election was devastating for Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), turning both chambers of the state legislature over to Democrats, crippling his ability to push his agenda. Now, he is nothing more than a veto pen.
For all his faults, McConnell has always been a fundraising machine, but that has not necessarily been the case over the last couple of years with all his health problems.
To that point, Democrats are crushing Republicans in fundraising, even more so when you add the independent Senators that caucus with Democrats.
Since 2019, including Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Angus King (I-VA), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Democrats have raised $338.5 million. Republicans have raised only $146.1 million.
This very much impacted the races that took place last week, with Dems having outspent Republicans in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
As noted above, we lost the gubernatorial race in Kentucky, and we lost both chambers in Virginia. Republicans lost seats in New Jersey, failed to get the Supreme Court seat up for grabs in Pennsylvania, and lost key ballot measures in Ohio, with abortion again energizing voters on the left.
People may not want to hear this, but abortion is quickly becoming the death of the Republican Party.
Everyone thought it would be a significant win when Roe v. Wade was overturned, but rather than looking for a common-ground solution, some Republicans have gone to the extreme end of the spectrum, wanting to ban abortion outright when more than 70% of Americans say they would support abortion legislation with time and conditional limits.
This is arguably the most significant motivational factor that is driving Democrat voters to the polls right now.
When you take into account the failed party leadership and Donald Trump’s legal problems, conservatives are just not donating like they have in the past because of the uncertainty of the future.
People don’t like to lose, and when you have just been dealt what amounts to be four consecutive losses, people start to put those checkbooks away and wait for better times.
Ronna McDaniel is not helping by deflecting blame for the most recent losses, almost laughing them off when a microphone gets put in her face.
For instance, after being called out for election failures during the debate by Vivek Ramaswamy, McDaniel said that he was just trying to get headlines, not even addressing the fact the party had a sledgehammer taken to it again in the 2023 cycle.
The infighting in the House is also hurting the party because Republicans are acting immaturely instead of governing.
There is still a year, so there is time to change this, but the GOP has to start now, or it could be looking at a devastating 2024 from the top of the ballot to the bottom.
As goes fundraising, so goes elections, and the outlook is not good right now.
