Trump claimed that Kemp is “very bad” for the GOP, another statement not only demonstrably false but also contradicted by facts. A poll earlier showed Kemp’s approval rating at 60 percent. Trump’s image is underwater in our state, with just 46% seeing him favorably compared with 49% unfavorably, according to one survey from Quinnipiac University. Among independent voters, who will decide the November election, the gulf is even wider: 43-51 percent. Those are the voters that propelled Kemp to a sweeping margin of victory of nearly 300,000 votes against Stacey Abrams — no need for him “to find 11,780 votes,” as Trump demanded of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
The broader takeaway from the two events is one campaign is trying to build a broad coalition of ideas while the other would rather shrink to core supporters able to pass a fealty test to its cultlike leader.
If you rebuff maniacal schemes seeking to overturn a free and fairly decided election, as Kemp had the courage to do, you’re a “bad guy, a disloyal guy.” Or, as in former Vice President Mike Pence’s case, you ending up facing calls for your execution as the U.S. Capitol gets ransacked by a Trump-inspired mob.
With the Trumpers reeling, some have started losing their moorings. In a weird social media temper tantrum, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party threatened to permanently ban me from the party. My “sin” was endorsing Biden and then Harris as a means of ending the Trump era.
The rant symbolizes the rot in the GOP. Our party revolves less around convictions and governing policies and more toward a cult of personality. Ironically, Trump is a man who spent portions of his adult life as a registered Democrat and whose majority of campaign donations went to Democrats — including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and even Harris when she was running for California attorney general.
The message from the Trump faithful to Republicans who support a different course is clear: There is no place for you in our ranks. Politics should be about attracting more voters, not fewer — to win an election, but more importantly, to win the hearts and minds of a governing majority.
I get it. Politics is team sport with different jerseys. It’s not easy to go on the other side, especially when their policy positions don’t align with yours on most issues. My hope is that Harris will continue to extend an olive branch to those looking for a new home in November. Time will tell if that works out.
I do know this: The outcome of saddling up for another four years with Trump is preordained to be cloaked in chaos, anger and vitriol, the same unproductive position as when he disgracefully left office last time. Trump’s obsession with power fuels head-scratching disappointments at unexplainable times and places. This weekend’s rally was another painful example.
At the very least, four years under Harris will provide the GOP time to put the pieces back together without Trump and hopefully give this lifelong Republican a chance to help rebuild the party I’ve always called home.
This article was originally published by a www.ajc.com . Read the Original article here. .