Fighting for the Wheel

Some are receiving considerable media attention, such as former president Donald Trump’s criticism of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the wake of the Congressional losses. And now Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who chairs the House Republican Conference and who supported the second impeachment of Trump, finds both her leadership position and her House seat in jeopardy, in the face of an expected GOP primary challenge in 2022. Senator Mitt Romney, who also supported Trump’s impeachment, drew hearty boos from the crowd at the Utah state Republican convention last week.

The common thread running through all this conflict is the question of whether Trump will be given the party reins again in 2024, or whether the GOP will try to move beyond him and instead tack toward the center in the 2022 midterm elections.

Ultimately, whatever direction Republicans take in the short term won’t necessarily be binding in the long term. Biden, for example, presented himself as a moderate and centrist candidate, only to govern as a progressive once in office. But what kind of campaign do Republicans need to run if they want to retake Congress next year?

New York political consultant Michael Fragin, host of the Spin Class radio show, told Mishpacha that these disagreements fall far short of being a “Republican civil war.”