The Republican National Convention carries a general sense that former President Donald Trump's allies are already measuring curtains for the Oval Office, onlookers have said.. Following weeks of intraparty Democratic turmoil and a voter base energized by last weekend's attempted assassination of the former president, Republicans feel that victory in November is all but assured.
The thing is, wrote Hayes Brown for MSNBC, it's not — and that's a problem because the GOP reaction to a loss, or even the electoral environment shifting against them, could be dangerous.
"Even before the stunning events of the last several days, the mood among Trump’s devotees was that he can’t lose against President Joe Biden," wrote Brown."The convention has seen Republicans double down on that rhetoric, throwing out any caution about predicting a blowout. It’s more than bravado. It’s a flashing warning sign for what may come if the tides shift before November."
Despite how "geared up" Republicans now are, wrote Brown, "The GOP’s success isn’t quite the slam dunk that it’s being made out to be in Milwaukee, not with the election still months away. It’s worth bearing in mind that the predictions of a red wave in 2022 fizzled out, yielding the weakest midterm performance by a party that didn’t hold the White House has had in decades. And the polls still show Biden and Trump running neck and neck even after the tumult of the last few months. And as this week has already shown, there’s a lot that can happen between now and the election."
In 2020, Trump proclaimed his loss was rigged, tried to overturn the voting results in several states, and ultimately incited a violent insurrection at the Capitol. And that was in an election where the polls had him losing by more than he actually ended up losing. If he were to lose this time, Brown wrote, the political unrest could end up being a lot worse.
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It's important to remember, Brown wrote, that in 2020 only a small fraction of elected officials truly proclaimed the election stolen — but now, Trump supporters have elected conspiracy theorists at all levels, with "a vast and growing GOP infrastructure primed to do whatever it takes to ensure that failure isn’t an option" and right-wing legal groups "gearing up to target the U.S. voting system in the election’s aftermath, seeking to nullify a Biden win." The Republican National Committee has even diverted money usually spent on voter outreach and advertising toward "election integrity" projects that will try to overturn any results they don't like.
To even reach this point though, concluded Brown, requires Democrats' refusing to cede the election and playing to win. "Democrats need to remember that there’s still time to prove the GOP’s certainty wrong and win in November — even if Republicans are unwilling to admit that such a thing is possible."
