Josh Hawley never believed he could steal the democratically decided victory of President-elect Joe Biden, but he bet he could shatter a historic norm and vote to overturn Biden’s win as a strategy to gain support (and donations) for his once-certain 2024 bid.
The bet failed spectacularly yesterday when President Trump incited a violent mob to storm and raid the Capitol. Hawley had already been embarrassingly happy to cross a dangerous line, although it is on Trump that things got so much worse.
Even before the riots, though, Hawlety and the others had opened a Pandora’s box. The precedent has been set for future Congresses to override the Electoral College result out of pure partisanship. But because of yesterday’s attack, Hawley was luckily left with fewer followers in the Senate (though 139 House Republicans did vote to object — something that’s been done before and met with more annoyance than derision).
Only the voters can punish Hawley for this stunt. In Missouri, an increasingly red state that went overwhelmingly for Trump, this may prove difficult. But the groundwork needs to be laid now. After Republicans finally woke up to the flagrant racism of Rep. Steve King of Iowa, they found and funded primary opponent Randy Feenstra, who went on to win his House seat. There is no shortage of ambitious Republican candidates in Missouri who can make Hawley pay.
If the Trump era has taught us anything, it’s that we are mistaken to wait until after the primaries to ask conservatives to vote their conscience. The simple fact is that pro-life, limited government conservatives are never going to start voting for Democrats, nor can they reasonably be expected to. But that means we need to clean house on our own side of the aisle, and that starts by going all-in on our next set of primaries.
