There have been reports of Trump’s rally crowds shrinking, and his influence becoming questionable, at least in some States. But the Tuesday (May 24) primaries in Georgia may have relegated the former President to the dustbin of history, outside of some possible legal entanglements stemming from the January 6th Insurrection – if I’m to believe Erick Erickson, who lives in Georgia and pays attention to local politics:
But here’s why this has a lot to do with Trump and “stop the steal”[.]
Trump went after three Georgia Republicans more aggressively than any other candidates in the nation: Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and Attorney General Chris Carr.
That Brad Raffensperger won without a runoff tells me voters have had enough of Trump’s stolen election grievances. They are ready to move on. They want to look forward, not be pawns to Trump’s ego. Raffensperger’s win is the big indicator this really had more to do with Trump than I was first willing to believe.
Donald Trump literally told Brad Raffensperger that Trump would destroy him and Raffensperger even exceeded fifty percent of the vote in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district. Raffensperger was the scapegoat, the villain, and the responsible party who cost Trump Georgia, according to Trump. And Georgia’s Republican voters just re-nominated him. His race was so close and there was a Democrat cross-over. So Trump could argue Democrats made it happen. But it does not matter. Trump failed to persuade enough Republicans to reject [Raffensperger].
Trump bullied and denounced Attorney General Chris Carr and Carr crushed his Trump-endorsed opponent. Trump and his team convinced a man who had retired from the practice of law to get his license back just to challenge Carr. It did not work out well.
Even John King, the state’s Insurance Commissioner, decisively crushed his opponent, Patrick Witt, whose campaign signs had, in big letters, “Trump Endorsed.”
Erickson doesn’t say it, but possibly the only primary winning, Trump-endorsed candidate was Herschel Walker, the former NFL star. Unlike most, or all, of the rest of the Trump-endorsed, Walker has his own, independent, and substantial reputation, and Georgia is part of the football-loving South. He owes nothing to Trump. But will he appeal to independents, or will his mental illness, his unfamiliarity with public life issues, allegations of domestic abuse, and his documented mendacity when it comes to his business claims obviate the football sentimentality? In this purplish state, the independents hold the balance of power.
Walker’s opponent, Senator and Pastor Warnock (D-GA), certainly has his own reputation. It’ll be an interesting contest.
But back to the point. I agree with Erickson, Trump was rejected by Georgia GOP primary voters yesterday. Some of this is attributable to who Trump endorsed: candidates with dim prospects but a strong and demonstrated allegiance to Trump. But as I noted here, if Trump wants a reputation as the man with the magic touch, it was absolutely necessary to go out and endorse nobodies. That brings the additional advantage, at least for the former President, of making the candidate dependent on Trump and not on their own accomplishments.
But it carries the risk of exposing the endorser as a charlatan, an electoral fraud, if those candidates fail.
So what happens next? Trump’s influence varies across American geography, so in some areas he’ll retain influence, but in others it’s going to wane. He’s been revealed as just another idiot with a big mouth. The Georgia GOP appears to be moving on, at least in part, and by that I mean that some of those who supported Perdue and other failed Trump endorsees may decide to take their toys and go home.
That is, not vote in the general election.
Will it be enough to affect some races? The state-wide races, yes. Incumbent governor Kemp is at a slightly increased risk of losing. Walker, already facing an incumbent Senator while carrying many burdens which, in a rational society, would invalidate his candidacy, has an increased risk – although his pre-existing reputation shields him, to some extent, from sore loser syndrome. District races, on the other hand, will depend on the district.
Similarly to the sore-loser voters, GOP candidates who pledged eternal devotion to Trump and Trumpism will also scream. After all, they’ve had their shot at, and in some cases their taste of, power, and they will bitterly resent that foreclosure, that invalidation that their notions of how their little bit of America should be run. To be returned to the bar stool after that little taste will be cruel, indeed.
But Trump-appointed judges and SCOTUS Justices will hang around, looking worse and worse as Trump’s incompetence and any crimes committed become more and more salient. But don’t look for any resignations, excepting those judges caught committing a crime themselves. I suspect we’ll see Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett blushing from time to time, should liberals choose to demonstrate when they are in public.
The Southern Baptist Convention logo. Soon to be retired?
And Trump? Another step closer to the dustbin. Add in his connections to the recently morally devastated Southern Baptist Convention, a cornerstone of his base, and two of the legs on his three-legged stool may be missing screws. Look for hot air from him and his coterie and devotees, but this may mark the beginning of the end for Trump.
Will he be smart enough to leave the United States? At one time, I thought the answer was yes, but with his long-time ally, or perhaps master, President Putin both ill and in danger of losing Putin’s War, he may have nowhere to go.
