After John Kelly and Javanka successfully removed Steve Bannon from his cushy White House job, the former senior advisor to Donald Trump returned to his position as Chief Propagandist for The Publication Formerly Known as Breitbart News where he declared “war” against anyone who dared to oppose his nationalist/populist overhaul of the GOP.
Unfortunately, as is the case in a real war, Bannon’s self-declared war—which Trump supports—will suffer unintended casualties as a result of his misguided strategy.
Bannon, once called the “destroyer of everything,” plans to lump the entire GOP into one giant Washington-establishment ball where he blames every incumbent with an “R” after their name for the repeated betrayals we’ve come to expect from the Republican party.
As someone who’s already resigned himself to the reality that the GOP is no longer the home of conservatives, I’m fully aware of how tempting it can be to buy what Bannon is selling. But to do that, we’d have to lump Mitch McConnell and Mike Lee together. Clearly, that would be wrong. A much larger reason for opposing Bannon’s strategy is this: he’s not interested in draining the swamp, but only interested in getting rid of Republicans who refuse to fully embrace Trump.
For example, Bannon recently demanded the resignation of retiring Sen. Bob Corker after he criticized Trump, and he went so far as to use the sacrifices of our military in an attempt to guilt the GOP into denouncing Corker’s actions.
This past weekend, Bannon delivered the good news to Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter that they weren’t the worst presidents in history after all. According to Bannon, that distinction belongs to George W. Bush after the former president spoke out against the politically divisive atmosphere in America today. Although Trump was not the target of Bush’s speech, Bannon considered it a personal attack on the NY liberal.
Recently, Bannon added to his war strategy by calling for every incumbent Republican Senator to be primaried in 2018—except Ted Cruz. While many of these RINOs should be primaried, Bannon isn’t seeking conservatives to fill the job. He wants Trump loyalists, and this is the unintended casualties come in.
Due to Trump’s historically low job approval ratings, candidates associating themselves with Trump are having a hard time raising money for their campaigns. When you add this sad reality to Congress’ low approval numbers and the difficulty the party occupying the White House historically has in mid-term elections, 2018 is looking pretty good for the Democrats.
For several years, the conservative rallying cry was to rid Washington of RINO Republicans who repeatedly promised one thing to get our money and our votes, only to deliver the opposite once elected. Steve Bannon has taken that cry and used it as camouflage to advance a nationalist/populist agenda that will destroy true conservatism while paving the way for Democrats to win in 2018.
The GOP is irreparably broken, but Bannon’s shock and awe, take no prisoner’s strategy is not the answer. If Bannon really wanted to change things, he would direct his efforts attacking Democrats and work toward building a new party to replace the Republican party. Instead, Bannon will try to build the Trumplican Party and in the process, give Congress back to the Democrats.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
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