How Republicans could still blow it in 2022

An elephant.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

Believe it or not, the GOP could still lose next year's midterm elections. That might seem an obvious point given that we're a year away from casting and counting votes, but it has quickly become conventional wisdom that a big red wave is about to hit the country. Democrats lost the Virginia governorship last week and nearly did the same in New Jersey. All that's left for Dems is to await the disaster that is surely coming.

Unless it doesn't come, because congressional Republicans are capable of screwing up a sure thing.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

If you hoped to blow up your chances at a congressional majority, you could look the other way, as Republicans did Monday, while Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) tweeted out an animated video depicting him decapitating colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). It's the sort of implied threat that would get any regular citizen tossed out of their school or workplace, much less someone who has repeatedly demonstrated an affinity with white supremacists.

And if you were intent on wrecking your electoral chances, you could do those things while also threatening to strip committee assignments from 13 Republican colleagues who voted last week for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. That would be a good way to lose some of those seats, and also an effective signal to the broader voting public that the party has surrendered entirely to extremism. Greene and Gosar are welcome in the GOP family, but members who vote for roads and bridges are not? What are swing voters going to think about that?

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has mused in recent days about picking up as many as 60 seats for the GOP in next year's elections. Perhaps their rivals really are in such bad shape that Republicans don't have to worry about making themselves appealing to voters. Maybe, though, they're about to blow it.

Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.