Josh Hawley's 2022 Election Folly - Rove WSJ op-ed

[question everything]

A novel explanation for the GOP’s disappointing midterm comes from Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. The problem, he writes, wasn’t candidate quality but substance: “The old Republican Party is dead.” Because too few candidates backed a Trumpian agenda of protectionism, less legal immigration, a crackdown on Big Tech and an end to tax cuts, “the red wave didn’t land.” Working people who support the Trump agenda “chose to stay home.”

The data don’t bear this out. There were 113.7 million votes cast for House candidates in 2018. Republicans got 51 million and Democrats 60.7 million. Though votes are still being counted in California, so far this year Republicans received 54 million votes to 50.5 million for Democrats. Democrats had an 8.6% margin over Republicans in 2018; Republicans have a 3.3% edge in 2022.

Mr. Hawley also argues that working-class voters “have little enthusiasm” for the GOP. Data don’t back up this claim, either. According to the Fox News Voter Analysis, white noncollege voters in 2018 were 40% of the turnout and broke 59% Republican, 39% Democrat. In 2022, their share of the turnout ticked up to 41% and the Republican advantage grew to 65% to 32%. It appears Democrats have bigger problems than the GOP does among working-class voters.

Yet Mr. Hawley has half a point: The election results do reflect a problem of substance, specifically the damage Republicans did with candidates who went full-on Trumpy. If they echoed the former president’s issues, tone and stolen-election claims, they often lost and in almost every case ran behind the rest of the Republican ticket.

(snip)

There are dozens of other examples, but the point is obvious: The principal reason Republicans came up short was that... the GOP nominated too many radicals and weirdos. Mr. Hawley—who raised a clinched fist in solidarity with those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021—may not see that, but voters did.

https://archive.ph/cUQgk#selection-386.0-386.1

[LuvLoogie]

1. Only white meatheads are working class?

Radicals and weirdos?

No

Racists and fascists.

Are you posting a Karl Rove opinion on DU?

[question everything]

2. Important to follow the unraveling of what used to be a solid R front

[lees1975]

3. Maybe Missouri Republicans should try putting up a regular Republican

in the primaries against Hawley, and see if being labeled as a Trumpie Nutcase Radical Weirdo, with his raised clenched fist, works in his own party.

He can't be that stupid---or--can he?

[Rebl2]

4. It would

be refreshing if they put up a regular republican, but they won’t because yes they are that stupid. The majority have gone down the trumpian rabbit hole.