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Was Trump To Blame for Disappointing Midterms? Bongino Says “No”

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2 years ago

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At this point we all know the midterm elections did not exactly go the way it was expected for the GOP. What was supposed to be a red wave, with the exception of Ohio, Texas, and Florida turned into a red trickle. Very disappointing indeed. It’s not the end of the world, as Republicans are still going to squeak out a small majority in the House, but the Senate, which should have swung by a dozen seats will remain under Dem control.

So, what happened? What caused the voters, particularly the younger people and independents to vote democrat? There are a number of theories. Considering even Vegas had Republicans as overwhelming betting favorites, no one saw this coming. Abortion was a major issue. For some reason voters looked at the economy, inflation, gas prices, world geopolitics, and just decided they’d rather have the right to kill a baby up to 9 months. Unconscionable? Definitely. Expected, hell no. Most people on the right still can’t understand how anyone would look at the country and decide, ‘yea, give me more of that’, but they did.

The popular whipping boy from some Republicans and most of the left is former President Trump. While it’s true many of Trump’s most touted candidates lost, is it his fault? One influential conservative radio and television personality, Dan Bongino says no. Check this out.

Bongino is not wrong. Trump has done so much to rally the Republican party, and brought so many blue-collar former Dems with his, voters that historically tend to not come out for midterm elections, especially with Trump not on the ballot. Also, several non-Trump Republicans lost. Is that the former President’s fault? Bongino rightly points out that the Dems threw much more money at INCUMBENT candidates. Incumbents are historically more difficult to defeat.

Bongino is referencing Trump backed Ohio winner JD Vance and an op-ed he wrote.

“[A]ny effort to blame Trump—or McConnell for that matter—ignores a major structural advantage for Democrats: money,” he wrote. “Money is how candidates fund the all-important advertising that reaches swing voters, and it’s how candidates fund turnout operations. And in every marquee national race, Republicans got crushed financially.”

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“Blaming Trump isn’t just wrong on the facts, it is counterproductive,” he concluded. “Any autopsy of Republican underperformance ought to focus on how to close the national money gap, and how to turn out less engaged Republicans during midterm elections.”

Vance, and Bongino nail the point. Many Republicans just didn’t come out to vote because big Don wasn’t on the ticket. Several of the crucial states also seemingly made it more difficult to vote, whether by crook or hook remains to be seen (looking at you Arizona). Republicans now tend to be older, working-class folks that just aren’t down for a 3-hour wait to vote in a midterm. This hurt the GOP in the end. It wasn’t a total failure last Tuesday night, but Bongino and Vance are right. You can’t just blame Trump, and Republicans that do might not like the repercussions when/if Trump grabs the nomination for 2024.



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