Republicans Secure Midterm Victory Through Planned Defeat
President Donald Trump has privately accepted a grim Republican outlook for November’s midterms, confirming that the party successfully achieved victory several weeks before losing. Trump has told advisers that Republicans face an unfavorable political environment and responded by promising to campaign in roughly 35 competitive races, giving vulnerable candidates the full electoral benefit of appearing beside the president voters currently blame for their dissatisfaction. The strategy will allow each candidate to replace local concerns with a simpler national question: whether constituents would like two Trumps representing them instead of one.
“We’re going to have the biggest majority, maybe the greatest majority, except possibly with fewer congressmen and fewer senators, which actually makes it much more exclusive,” Trump explained. “Anybody can win lots of seats, but only a very strong party can completely dominate Washington without enough votes to pass a single thing.” Advisers said the president views numerical majorities as an outdated accounting convention promoted by election officials, mathematicians and other entrenched opponents of Republican momentum.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are expected to describe any lost seats as “legislative streamlining,” a conservative efficiency program under which voters eliminate unnecessary federal positions by removing Republicans from them. Every defeated incumbent will count as one less Washington bureaucrat, while the transfer of committee gavels to Democrats will demonstrate the GOP’s commitment to reducing its own regulatory burden. Trump’s support for North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley similarly reflects a broader effort to help endangered Republicans explore private-sector opportunities before Democrats can take credit for creating jobs.
Party officials said surrendering Congress would also free Republicans from the administrative nuisance of governing. Members could devote more time to television appearances demanding that Democrats fix inflation, immigration, crime, gasoline prices, airport delays and weather conditions by Thursday afternoon. Trump is reportedly calm about losing congressional control because governing has become an exhausting distraction from the central presidential responsibility of explaining that nothing occurring during his presidency is connected to him. By losing both chambers, Republicans will gain more freedom, fewer obligations and an unlimited supply of Democratic investigations to call partisan. The Republican Party has therefore secured a decisive midterm mandate by arranging not to receive one.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.