Republicans aren’t ready for Trump-style ‘frau
Post# of 27043
IF Party leaders let Trump’s con go unanswered — and they could be the next target
the audits of last year’s election have been embarrassing to Republicans who see their folly. The Trump-inspired efforts have just as often added to Biden’s total as to Trump’s. Last month in Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick paid his first $25,000 reward for a tip on illegal voting — to a Democrat whose information led to the conviction of a Republican for voting twice for Trump.
And they’ve been unanimous: There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, and no audit has found enough votes for either candidate to overturn a state, county or precinct. The projects have become taxpayer-funded laughingstocks.
It’s easy enough to predict that if Trump runs again in 2024, he might reject a defeat. Even if he doesn’t run, there’s a real danger that any Republican candidate who loses a future election — even a GOP primary — will insist that the contest was rigged. And the Trumpier the candidate, the likelier it is that they’ll cry fraud. A candidate who, in reality, finished narrowly in third place in any contest could deny that reality by calling themselves the victor or runner-up. Their opponents could do the same — leading to a state-by-state campaign that essentially tears down what’s left of GOP confidence in our electoral system. Indeed, in some cases, this may be what a candidate’s base expects and demands from them!!!
As Dr. Frankenstein learned, creating the monster and controlling it are decidedly different things. By giving up on the central premise that everyone plays by the rules, and playing along every time Trump claimed a vote was rigged — whether before a possible loss or after — the GOP kept its monster very much alive. In this case, Trump’s impulses threaten to make the party implode.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/vote-f...story.html