Party faithful want Trump and other Republicans to act like Reagan did after ’76, and not like Oscar the Grouch.
After an underwhelming midterm election, the Republican Party and its enigmatic leader Donald Trump find themselves in a political wilderness, much like Ronald Reagan did after losing the 1976 nomination.
Do the unthinkable — form a Trump-DeSantis super ticket.
No one ever thought Steinbrenner would rehire Billy Martin after a tumultuous firing in the 1970s — but the Yankees boss did and kept winning.
A Trump-DeSantis ticket seems nearly as outrageous to suggest. But nearly every expert interviewed for this story — including Democrats — suggested it had the chance to create a generational alliance under the America First brand with a decade or more of winning consequences for Republicans.
It also would save donors an intraparty war that would drain hundreds of millions of dollars of donations that could otherwise be trained on Democrats for two years to break their hold on unmarried women and young voters
Both men would have to check massive egos and tempers at the door. Both would have to make concessions to each other to erase the mutual distrust. Both would have to put the mission of saving the country ahead of their personal interest to make such a deal.
But both are smart enough to know the Democrats don’t have an answer to a Trump-DeSantis ticket. And both know the risks of a head-to-head battle.
It will be bloody, expensive, and one or both would be severely wounded in the process. Trump can’t afford to be a two-time loser. And DeSantis can’t afford to be the heir apparent who shot and failed to kill a king whose base is more loyal than anything seen in modern GOP politics.
DeSantis can’t withstand the withering attacks that Trump uniquely delivers, ones that will certainly make DeSantis look irrational and unworthy to be president. If the Florida governor has any doubt, he should ask the 15 Republicans who Trump dispatched in 2016.
The consultants eager to get rich off a nuclear Trump-DeSantis war are certain to press each man to laugh off the super ticket notion.
The same happened back in 1980 when nearly every man in Reagan’s orbit pressed to the final hour to get Ford to be Reagan’s running mate. Reagan declared he was unwilling to accede to Ford’s many demands. And the future president then uttered the unthinkable just minutes before he was expected to announce his running mate: “Well, let’s get Bush on the phone.”
Sometimes a president’s instincts are far better than the advice of six-figure consultants.
Trump has many of the tools of Reagan, especially marketing a populist, patriotic agenda to everyday Americans disenfranchised from their government. What he has failed to consistently achieve is Reagan’s temperament.
If he can seize it with discipline, settle the DeSantis feud and return to carrying the grievances of everyday Americans he creates a united GOP that has a high ceiling for 2024.
Fix the GOP’s leadership relationships in the House and Senate.
Republicans can’t go into another election cycle with large parts of their House and Senate caucuses distrusting their leaders. Mitch McConnell greatly alienated some in his own ranks by talking down candidates and in some cases running against GOP nominees, like Kelly Tshaibaka.
Make the Georgia Senate runoff the party’s unifying moment.
Reagan knew he had to heal the GOP from his bruising battle with Ford. Trump’s relentless barrage has created undeniable hard feelings with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The three must bury the hatchet and make Georgia a rallying cry for all Republicans, even if Democrats control of the Senate is already decided by the Nevada race. Why? Republicans have suffered from an us-them divide that won’t translate to victory in 2022.
Stop unilateral disarming on absentee ballots.
For two straight elections, Republican efforts to show they were morally superior by eschewing absentee balloting in the states where it is lawful have backfired. Democrats have run up massive early vote totals in states like Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that Republicans have been unable to overcome on Election Day.