Senate Democrats may dislike/hate you Josh Hawley for your role in sedition on Jan 6th, but you seem to have a “Mission Accomplished!” banner when it comes to Republican voters. The Boston Globe is reporting that Hawley has become a “pariah” among Senate Democrats. They view Hawley as having political leprosy and won’t co-sponsor any of his bills since Jan 6th. However, guess who still thinks that Hawley is a pretty nifty guy?
But a Missouri Scout poll touted by his campaign found 46 percent of Missouri voters approved of Hawley in late January, with his overall rating six percentage points above water, which is comparable to where he was polling before January. As the weeks wore on, local Republican parties around the country began voting to censure Republicans who supported impeaching Trump, and whatever energy there was in GOP establishment circles for punishing those who pushed electoral fraud claims petered out amid the fury of the grassroots. “I think Senator Josh Hawley’s gone from a liked conservative to being a rock star with Missouri Republicans in the last couple of months,” argued Missouri Republican strategist James Harris. Harris said he heard some grumbling from “country club Republicans” about the image of Hawley raising his fist outside the Capitol. But to the state’s self-described “Trump Republicans” who are still angry about the election, that photo had an entirely different meaning. “I could sell that photo of Josh Hawley and I could make thousands of dollars if I just went to Republican events around the state,” he said. Nationally, Hawley appears to have boosted his profile even as he gets the cold shoulder from his liberal colleagues. Hawley has raised over $2 million since January, which includes funds from roughly 25,000 new donors, according to a source close to his campaign. That’s almost as much as he raised in all of 2020, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. The Morning Consult poll also found his favorability rating rose 5 percentage points among Republican voters nationally after the insurrection.
But a Missouri Scout poll touted by his campaign found 46 percent of Missouri voters approved of Hawley in late January, with his overall rating six percentage points above water, which is comparable to where he was polling before January. As the weeks wore on, local Republican parties around the country began voting to censure Republicans who supported impeaching Trump, and whatever energy there was in GOP establishment circles for punishing those who pushed electoral fraud claims petered out amid the fury of the grassroots.
“I think Senator Josh Hawley’s gone from a liked conservative to being a rock star with Missouri Republicans in the last couple of months,” argued Missouri Republican strategist James Harris.
Harris said he heard some grumbling from “country club Republicans” about the image of Hawley raising his fist outside the Capitol. But to the state’s self-described “Trump Republicans” who are still angry about the election, that photo had an entirely different meaning.
“I could sell that photo of Josh Hawley and I could make thousands of dollars if I just went to Republican events around the state,” he said.
Nationally, Hawley appears to have boosted his profile even as he gets the cold shoulder from his liberal colleagues. Hawley has raised over $2 million since January, which includes funds from roughly 25,000 new donors, according to a source close to his campaign. That’s almost as much as he raised in all of 2020, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. The Morning Consult poll also found his favorability rating rose 5 percentage points among Republican voters nationally after the insurrection.
Emphasis is mine.
I expected shit like this. Republicans know their delusional, ignorant, bigoted, insurrectionist base of voters too well. Hawley was playing to that crowd.
The reason I am bringing all this up is what caught my eye in this same article about how fuckin’ low Republican voters and their “leaders” have fallen.
“In the olden days when I was young, people cared a lot more about your ability to get things done or bring things home,” said John Hancock, the former chair of the Missouri Republican Party, who predicted no ill effects for Hawley of the Democratic freeze out. “There were whole campaigns that were run on that back in the day. You just don’t see that anymore. I can’t tell you the last campaign slogan I’ve seen that said, ‘experience counts.’”
If you are a Republican office holder, you don’t have to get jack shit done, except try to overthrow the government. Or hurt people who Republicans hate. That’s it. Nothing else.
All the usual BS about freedom, smaller government, lower taxes, fiscal discipline, personal accountability (all the righteous holier than thou shit from fundamentalists) is all gone. You don’t even have to bother with that old saw about bringin’ home the bacon to your voters. Only thing that matters is overturning democracy and political violence against anyone who isn’t white and Republican.
This is going to continue. There will be more and more examples of this well into the next midterm election. Republicans know that their base is nihilistic, so why deliver good policy?
As for Josh Hawley, he is going to be like New Coke was in the 80’s. Trump ain’t going anywhere, so why should Republicans switch to Hawley?
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