An astute op-ed from Olivia Troye, the former Pence aide turned never Trumper:
The path from Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally to the Capitol was paved with lies about the 2020 election. Now, lies about what happened on Jan. 6 are becoming the Republican Party’s only strategy to regain power – and it’s working.
The Republican Party doesn’t have a governing agenda. It’s a pathetic predicament but obvious to anyone who stepped foot in Trump’s White House. One reason congressional Republicans are focused on cultural issues – Dr. Seuss, fake red meat regulations and a handful of transgender high school athletes around the country – might be to avoid judgment on how they used power: no health care reform, no infrastructure package, heading toward 600,000 dead from the pandemic, and the attack on the Capitol.
She has a point there. The contrast between the Democrats and the Republicans just in terms of legislative activity is striking. It does expose the fact that during Trump’s term they were basically just dancing fools and sycophants, accomplishing nothing but confirmations of judges and running their mouths. You can see why they’d want to distract the public with bullshit.
I also thought she hit on something important I don’t think I’ve seen anyone mention:
The strategy is simple: Obfuscate, lie, change the subject and hope voters hold the other party to a higher standard. It’s cynical, un-American and, as exasperating as it may be, effective.
That part I highlighted is a big part of their plan. They are shameless and will eagerly attack Democrats for anything that even remotely resembles the kind of blatant authoritarianism and corruption they commonly practice. Their hypocrisy is one of the things their followers most admire about them — the same way that some people admire bullies and punks for being smart-asses.
And while it’s perfectly correct to hold the Democrats to a high standard, they also know that Democrats will be driven to prove their moral superiority to the Republicans and many will willingly join even a bogus pile-on if the GOP can get it going. (I don’t think I have to remind anyone of “emails” do I?)
This is part of their strategy and I think Democrats (and the media) should think in advance about how they plan to deal with it.
Update: Katha Pollitt’s column speaks to this. Well worth reading.