OPINION:
The Republican Party must immediately unite around Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel must voluntarily pass the torch of leadership to a new RNC chair capable of running a competent campaign in 2024.
Absent these two midcourse corrections, the Republican Party will squander a platinum opportunity to take back both the White House and Congress from a Democratic Party that destroying everything Main Street America holds dear.
Mr. Trump has an insurmountable lead in the polls and a rock-solid base no other candidate can shake. He will be the nominee.
As we saw last week, there is no one left on the debate stage either capable of being president or likely to be Mr. Trump’s running mate. The Pillsbury Doughboy of venom, Chris Christie, has self-immolated as a spoiler hitman. Loudmouth Ramaswamy is, at best, a deputy Cabinet appointee.
As for Nikki Haley, yond lean and hungry Cassius has bitten the Trump hand that fed her so many times that she will have no place in a Trump administration (other than perhaps as ambassador to Botswana). Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blew his VP chance when he swung for Mr. Trump’s head. Shrinking Ron has little national appeal to justify a place on the Trump ticket.
What, then, is the purpose of continuing with a contested primary season that serves only to drain political funds from the general election campaign? Why have a debate schedule that allows the Keebler Elf candidates to throw mud at Mr. Trump as they make fools of themselves?
In fact, we saw a similar movie and mudslinging in 2020, with the usual suspects now hanging around the 2024 fringes. These Never Trumpers range from the Koch network’s dark money and Rupert Murdoch’s propagandist Fox News to the Romney-McConnell-Ryan-Noonan RINO sappers and nasty PAC men like George Conway and John Bolton. In 2020, their dark money and negative ads and attacks most certainly shaved points off the final Trump tally in what was a highly contested race.
And let’s not forget the 2020 fragging of Mr. Trump from the likes of warmongers like George W. Bush, “Mad Dog” Mattis and the late Colin Powell, and the passive-aggressive shots at Mr. Trump by Mitch McConnell in a Senate that has become nothing short of a uniparty RINO embarrassment.
As splintered as the Democratic Party is supposed to be, its leaders and big donors wouldn’t be doing anything like what the Republican Party is doing. Now, it’s either “here we go again,” and the Republican Party hands over an eminently winnable election to the party of economic mayhem, open borders and chaotic foreign policy. Alternatively, it can unite around The Donald as the only clear path to victory in 2024.
Even if Mr. Trump quickly becomes the presumptive nominee, there is still the matter of the Republican National Committee. As last week’s election once again demonstrated, the RNC fat cats know far better how to hold plush fundraisers at posh resorts than win down-and-dirty elections against a brass-knuckled, grassroots Democratic Party willing to lie, cheat and lawfare its way to victory.
Here are several obvious post-election takeaways. First, the RNC must develop a far better ground game. It’s not just about getting Republicans to vote early. It’s also about getting more voters to the polls.
Second, if the RNC allows the Democrats to turn the 2024 presidential and congressional races into a referendum on social issues, particularly abortion, Republicans will lose in record numbers. Just how many times do Republican strategists and leadership have to make this same stupid mistake?
Then-Sen. Barack Obama social-issued the clueless, cranky John McCain in 2008 when McCain was all but a lock to win on economic issues and China’s raid on our factories. Mr. Obama did it again to the feckless Mitt Romney in 2012.
And what about that 2022 Republican tsunami that was supposed to result in a record House victory? It never materialized for all manner of RNC-induced reasons, not the least of which was a failure to properly message on abortion.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mike Dukakis had it right with his Greek proverb that the fish rots from the head down. The RNC is a rotten political machine sputtering on every single cylinder, and its head, Ronna McDaniel, must hold herself accountable for last week’s carnage.
So, Ronna, end the debates, endorse Mr. Trump, and step aside so we can, in the words of the immortal Al Davis, “win, baby, win.”
• Peter Navarro served in the Trump White House as manufacturing czar and chief China hawk. This column originally appeared at http://peternavarro.substack.com.
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