“Burn it all down” is a populist phrase, responsible for creating far more partisanship in politics than solutions.
Despite denials, a large portion of the Never Trump movement has embraced the phrase as a means of ridding the Republican Party of all undesirable elements, which, in its case, means any member of the House or Senate who “enabled” President Trump. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Never Trump movement has adopted a similar rhetorical language as the Tea Party movement and uses it effectively, especially within groups such as The Lincoln Project.
The Tea Party, launched in early 2009, was the culmination of many conservatives’ frustration with runaway government spending. It began with objections to the Troubled Asset Relief Program under former President George W. Bush. It continued into the early stage of former President Barack Obama’s term with opposition to his stimulus plan and the Affordable Care Act. The movement helped sweep Republicans into the majority in the House and gain some Senate seats. However, it quickly devolved from a campaign about spending to a populist revolt, more intent on weeding out “establishment RINOs” who “betrayed” voters and “violated their oath” to the Constitution.
In 2013, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz stood in the well of the Senate and remarked (I’m paraphrasing), We can defund Obamacare if we just stand on principle!
Cruz, along with Tea Party-types in the House, insisted on adding language to spending bills that stripped the Affordable Care Act of any funding.
It was a laughable ruse, as it had to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and get signed by Obama, a Democrat. Here, Mr. President. Please sign this bill that defunds the legislation you called more important than your election.
Bonne chance.
Instead, a government shutdown followed. Cruz, facing his angry colleagues, knowing the GOP would take the blame for the shutdown, asked Cruz, “What’s your plan?” Cruz didn’t have an answer.
The faction of Never Trump that wants to “burn it all down” to save the GOP faces the same problem. They have no plan or strategy. They know what they want to do, which is to defeat Trump and any Republican member of Congress who “enabled” him. When I’ve asked about what to do after, they answer, “We’ll let the Democrats run things for a few years.” There are all kinds of questions about how that would work out. Still, that is the result of their action, not a plan for moving forward.
What is the strategy for bringing back the GOP as a majority party that isn’t Trumpified? It’s a question the “burn it all down” advocates refuse to answer because they lack vision. If Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Cory Gardner lose their reelection bids, what is the plan for getting “non-enabling” Republicans elected to a statewide office in Maine and Colorado?
Don’t get me wrong. Their frustration is understandable. I’ve argued that the Republican Party will suffer damage as the result of a Trump presidency as far back as 2014. The first casualty of the Trump era was control of the House. Trump’s current approval numbers and election polling against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden look ominous. If Trump doesn’t turn it around by November, he’ll join the ranks of Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush as one-term presidents.
If a moderate such as Collins or a mainstream conservative such as Gardner lose in November, it wouldn’t surprise me, as it becomes part and parcel of the damage Trump caused. Still, I won’t attach my foot to their rear-ends to help them out the door because having them remain in the Senate is the better result.
Unfortunately, the cure for some in Never Trump world is worse than the disease. When someone has a grease fire in his or her kitchen, they put the fire out. Never Trump would insist the best option is to set the entire house ablaze.
The role that groups such as The Lincoln Project are playing is akin to what we saw in 2011, 2012, and 2013 from organizations such as the Senate Conservatives Fund and Heritage Action. They saw small victories with a Democratic-controlled Senate and a Democrat in the White House as “capitulation.” In emails, they’d feed donors drivel about “the establishment,” giving Obama “everything he wanted.” They are the same people who, now on the opposite side of Never Trump, argue the Republican-led Senate is not “fighting” enough for Trump and deserves to lose. They’d like nothing more than to see Collins and Gardner run out of office.
The Never Trump, “burn it all down” crowd use similar verbiage, sitting on perches and announcing to anyone who listens that the “enablers” and those “complicit” in allowing Trump to run roughshod over “our democracy” need to go.
The result doesn’t provide a long-term solution. It only further enables the cranks to use the Republican Party as a vehicle for their ambitions, not good governance and leadership. It creates more partisanship, not less. “Burning it all down” is, in part, responsible for the mess we’re in today.
Does anyone have a better plan?
