Last week, Trump supporters, QAnon believers, Anti-maskers, and more went down to Orlando for CPAC. On Friday, we even saw several congresspeople attend the conference instead of being in Washington DC.
Passionate (aggressively yelling) speakers included Senator Ted Cruz, who’s recently been caught in a web of lies regarding his trip to Cancun, as Texans froze without power. While addressing the crowd, Cruz exclaimed “I’ve gotta say, Orlando is awesome” … “It’s not as nice as Cancún.” He went on to scream the word “freedom!” because… well I don’t know why. Anyway, it’s obvious that Cruz is still riding on the Trump train.
Now, I want to pay close attention to a minor, but revealing part of Don Jr.’s speech. He stated “How’s it going, CPAC? Or I heard someone earlier phrase it a little bit better, TPAC.” This brings me to my main question: What is the future of the Republican party? Is it Trump, the one term, twice impeached president? Is it a moderate, but more respectable Senator like Mitt Romney or Ben Sasse? Is it a younger rep like Madison Cawthorn, who has recently been accused of sexual harassment by multiple people? Maybe it’s Nikki Haley, who has already associated herself with Trump and shows interest in a 2024 run. Mitch McConnell made it clear during the impeachment hearings. But McConnell also played it safe. By voting “not guilty” at the trial, yet condemning Trump’s actions, McConnell showed his want to sway his party away from Trump, yet inability to do so. His vote acknowledged that at least until the 2022 midterm elections, the Republican party plans to rely on Trump. Depending on a state’s electorate, this cowardly strategy could work or fail. Some congresspeople are already in too deep to turn back now… Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Graham, Paul, even McConnell… Their base is the Trump base. Their only chance to remain in power is to continue to appeal to that base, hoping that there are enough Trump voters to win them another term. Although for some, there will be enough votes, I predict that the House and Senate will remain in Democrat hands. In the long term though (2024 presidency and beyond), I think this republican strategy will work out even worse, especially with the deep associations with QAnon. It’s possible to take the party out of Trump’s hands, but McConnell and others simply aren’t willing to take that risk.
Bash, Dana, et al. “More than a Dozen Republicans Tell House They Can’t Attend Votes Due to ‘Public Health Emergency.’ They’re Slated to Be at CPAC.” CNN, Cable News Network, 27 Feb. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/politics/cpac-house-republicans-proxy-voting/index.html.
Read, Bridget. “Ted Cruz Is Already Trying to Joke About His Cancún Trip.” The Cut, The Cut, 26 Feb. 2021, www.thecut.com/2021/02/ted-cruz-jokes-at-cpac-about-his-cancun-trip.html.