Stop me if this sounds familiar, but a Trump-backed candidate underperformed in a battleground state.
Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection over Daniel Cameron, a Trump-backed republican, in an otherwise red state.
Three years ago, the former president won Kentucky by over 60% and claimed all but two counties.
This election is the latest supporting evidence that being Trump approved doesn’t equal winning, especially among younger voters who tend to trend more liberal when voting.
If last year’s embarrassingly underwhelming Red Wave didn’t prove enough, now it’s becoming clearer.
It’s time to come to terms with the fact that bearing the MAGA seal of approval is no longer a shoe in for republican in general elections. In close races, it’s becoming a kiss of death.
The Trump nod works well in only one instance. In the deepest of red states, it helps a chosen GOP candidate stand out as intended. Look to the governor’s race here in Louisiana to see the proof. Jeff Landry prevailed over his republican counterparts with relative ease.
But in any state or district where there’s sizeable opposition, it’s just poking the sleeping donkey.
It’s not a shock when the party has blindly trusted his persona to win a culture war that he’s outclassed in.
Access to abortion shook up the political landscape with the Dobbs Decision, and the Republican Party has failed to adapt. Many politicians proudly boasted the end of Roe v. Wade but didn’t prepare to get back on the defensive end and secure it in their own states.
Who knew that when something once protected became vulnerable, that people will fight relentlessly to protect it.
In Ohio — a state Trump won convincingly in 2016 and 2020 with several Trump-approved politicians — a law protecting abortion access in the state constitution just passed last week. It shows a party that’s rapidly losing its already-slipping grip on one of the world’s key social issues.
It’s the issue when the majority of a political party stands idly by waiting for some sort of sign. People on the political opposite end are adapting in real time, and a downward spiral of unlikable, unrelatable politics.
With an election 12 months away, the situation can go from bad to unmanageable for Republicans.
