It's Trumps time to walk off the stage and be done.

An open letter to the GOP and Maga I have always been and will always be an independent Conservative, but 2022 midterms were simply the continuation of a comedy of errors that has plagued the GOP for the past six years and should never have occurred. The blind faith that people will vote for Republicans was astounding, as there were no actionable plans for what and how the party would "fix things" if elected. The ONLY plan outlining an agenda and what they would do came from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and I really do not even like him but hey he did put something out. But of course, Mitch McConnell squashed it, stating unequivocally that "Scott's plan was not his vision" when questioned.  Never mind that McConnell has not presented any alternatives.  Is it so long ago that we forgot about Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America?  What about the overall success for Republicans?  Yes, not all of it was passed, but it provided a platform on which they could stand and feel proud. It was tangible to the American people, and we enjoyed it. For the past three elections, all we've heard from the Republican party and its candidates is that the Democrats are destroying things and that we'll fix them.  Not what is broken and how we will fix it, what we will do, or which bills we will raise.  Just Democrats are bad, Republicans are good.  This is not a plan; it is a platitude, and the American people recognized it for what it is.  Platitudes do not win elections, and the fact that the Republican leadership in both houses and the RNC could not come up with a single plan for all candidates to run on is incredible.

The Stolen 2020 Election Mantra or this is a Stolen Election, That Election is Being Stolen talking points is way past its sell date.   Let it go, people rail against sore losers, and the Maga crowd enjoys pointing out that Democrats do not accept responsibility for their own actions, but what about Republicans without solutions, why would anyone vote for them? Pushing the same four-year-old story about why we should elect x does not work.  There is no rerun in 2020, and nothing can be changed by voting for x, y, or z.  So, if this was your candidate's talking points, it's likely they lost in 2022. And if this is your 2024’s candidates talking points the odds are they will lose also. Elections are local, and you must include independents on your side.  Talking about stolen elections just turns us off. Sorry to burst your bubble, but poll data indicates this time and time again. And Independents win elections, not 33% or whatever the current Republican population is. If you can't persuade them to support your vision, you're only representing slightly more than one-third of the country, and the party is doomed to lose every election.

To summarize, do I believe we had major issues with the 2020 election? Yes, there were things like Zuck Bucks and drop boxes in locations that were not approved by state constitutions, changes to election laws that violated state constitutions, and so on. But when the votes were counted, Biden won.  Do I like it? Not at all, but if you continue to dwell on the past, you will trip over your future, as happened during the 2022 election. Many candidates ran on the policy of "the 2020 election was stolen," ignoring the facts of what is happening now and what is important to the American people.  And without an agenda to back up their claims, they sounded like a whiney little kid with no answers, complaining about this and that but having no idea how to fix it.  How do you feel about people who complain but do not propose solutions at work or in your personal life?   I bet you simply ignore them, right?

 The next major issue, a leadership change, is now required. To all Maga supporters, I say let Trump go. He inspired the party to not simply roll over to the Democrats; he gave us the Make America Great messaging and America First. But now MAGA has become a term for people that will go to no end to destroy quality candidates, promote lies and deceive people. And if this is not changed quickly be expelling those people and calling them out the Term will be lost like Obamas “change” Became I want your change in your pocket too.  But neither of those require Trump or the massive baggage he brings with him. I'm glad he got his plane back in the air because he'll need it to transport the legal Baggage, he has to carry around now why is running.  As I previously stated, prior elections are won not only by mobilizing your own party but also the majority of Independents.   Trump is toxic to independent voters, and I cannot emphasize this enough. You will not win with him as the party's leader, locally or nationally.  It's simply not possible because the vast majority of us oppose him and his affiliated surrogate candidates.

 Trump's mistakes in encouraging candidates he would endorse to say or agree with him that the 2020 election was stolen did not influence people to vote for Republicans. And only the quality candidates who would have won elections and were popular with their constituents in their community were run off the road (so to speak) by Trump's reckless abandonment on constant harassment online and in real life. The reality is that elections are local, and one size does not fit all in terms of candidates.  Liz Cheney is an excellent example of the other side of the coin.  She despised Trump so much that she pushed to align herself with the Democratic Party in order to prevent him from running, even going so far as to donate money to the opposing party's candidates. Doing all of this while disregarding the fact that she is there to REPRESENT her constituents, but she did not care about their opinions and ran on her own, and now she is out of office and a pariah in the Republican party. Funny thing is Hagerman that took her place proves she lied about how she believes “people spend too much time in Washington and stop representing the people” after her comment when she voted down the term limit amendment by saying “she doesn’t thing people should be forcibly removed from office”.   Never mind we do that to the President after 2 terms.

Trump has now presided over the three failed elections the 2018 midterms, in which Republicans lost control of the House, the 2020 election, in which we lost control of the Senate and entered a power-sharing split, and now the 2022 midterms, in which lost the Senate split which was ours to win after the Democrats' destruction over first two years of Bidens presidency.  Why did this occur?  Just look at the candidates' words and actions. ALL ELECTIONS ARE LOCAL, and people's choices could not have been more different. There was no plan to say, "This is what I stand for, and this is what I will do." There was no national messaging that fed down to the local races in each state to stand and be proud of. And the majority of candidates who did lose their elections were labeled as "election deniers" and were brutally crucified as a result. In the Pennsylvania election, one-third of voters voted for Fetterman in opposition to Trump and his hand-picked candidate Oz.  This is only one race, but it demonstrates that Trump has an impact, and not in a positive way, in purple states.

In the end, it doesn't matter how many Trump picks get through primary’s it's the overall results, which are devastating to the party.  And it is clear that his candidate selection was poor and is extremely poor in purple states or districts. Or that he only backs candidates that swear allegiance to him without question. Disregard the red states, where any Republican could win.  Any pick in a solid red district will get through, but what about purple districts or states where the candidates chosen by Trump align with local voters?  Did they provide any plans for how to fix things?  Were they promoting stollen elections?  To make a point, could AOC-backed candidates win in Idaho?  NO, not a chance; her principles and beliefs are completely opposite of Idaho's.

In 2022, the Republicans became an even stronger populist party, but to illustrate this, consider Trump's status and personal elitism, as well as McConnell's. How do they reflect the party's populist views?  They do not.  Both men have created their own kingdoms of power and use it as they see fit, with complete disregard for the rest of us.  And, to use a SouthPark reference, both Trump and McConnell have the Eric Cartman attitude of "I do what I want" that runs deep within them, and they no longer represent the party.

The average age of our nation's founders was 44, with the majority in their 30s and some even younger.  Today, we have a geriatric leadership structure in both parties and houses. At the start of the 117th Congress, members of the House were on average 58 years old, while Senators were 64. McConnell is 81 years old and has served in Washington for seven terms, totaling over 42 years. Tell me how he knows what's important to the average person trying to pay their bills?  The leadership has become Elitist, and it is time to introduce legislation that establishes a 70-year-old maximum age for holding elected office at the start of each term. And limit the terms of any Elected Senator or Representative to 12 years.

Trump had two chances to mock Biden and his age, but if elected in 2024, he will be two years older.  Trump's policies were beneficial to America, our population, and the Republican Party.  However, his ship has sailed, and the events that followed the 2020 election have left many Independents and Republicans with a bad taste in their mouths. Only Trump's most ardent supporters can’t see what the rest of us do. And because of that they blindly follow him down the rabbit hole. Trump could be equated to the mental control an abusive spouse has on their partner.  Time and time again they are abused by them but because of their mental control the abuser has over them they feel they are wrong and the abuser loves them and is doing what’s best. Or they are too fearful to speak out about what the abuser is doing. Or the embarrassment it would bring them. This is what caused some candidates to suffer devastating losses in the midterm election. From the legal challenges Trump is currently facing to the image-damaging January 6th incident. To the image of people running like rats from a sinking ship of his Presidency at the end, he will only be able to discuss those issues when the Democratic machine gets up and running soon as he would be the nominee for the Republican party, and that is all that will fill the airwaves and soon nobody that matters like independents to him getting elected will listen to him.  His image does not reflect the person I voted for in 2016 or bit my tongue over in 2020. I could accept his bombastic attitude at both times. However, his loss in 2020 has made it clear that he is not the same man I voted for in 2016.  

 ~DrZoo