There’s a classic Peanuts cartoon showing Snoopy asleep atop his doghouse when a couple of snowballs go flying by. He stands up and makes a gesture to both sides for peace. The final frame shows him ducking for cover as a barrage of snowballs whizz past him in both directions. One strongly suspects Marjorie Taylor Greene can relate to this scenario, after her tweet regarding the omnipresent online spats between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis supporters.
The reactions have been as expected. Here is one of the milder ones, from former Trump- and now, DeSantis-supporting Jenna Ellis:
It is worth noting that Greene has not yet endorsed Trump, DeSantis, or anyone else. While The Notorious MTG has never proven herself averse to tossing red meat, this is an example of how clear-headed pragmatism minus compromise makes sense. It also ably demonstrates the shortcomings of our current primary system. As Bonchie noted here on March 21, 2023, DeSantis has been relatively sparing in his criticisms of Trump, a status which Trump cannot claim regarding DeSantis who, although as yet unannounced, is generally assumed to be shortly tossing his hat into the 2024 presidential campaign. I’m far too advanced in age to be a dewy-eyed dreamer regarding the body politic. That duly noted, having made more than a few trips around the sun while riding this dusty orb has provided some observations on how the process of primaries—as presently practiced—is often stunningly counterproductive. There are two ways to approach a primary. One is attacking the other party, or candidate should the latter be known, as stridently as possible while simultaneously laying out your proposed policies and platforms, making a case for them and yourself. An example of this is Vivek Ramaswamy and his “America First 2.0” program that, regardless of your preferred Republican candidate should you have one, embodies the substance of active conservatism. The other is excessively focusing on your primary opponent or opponents. Of course, a candidate should make a case as to why they are the best qualified to take on the other party in the general election. However, it has never been, and never will be, wise to go overboard with mud bucket utilization. It provides easy ammunition for the other side, and unless your primary opponent is from the Nathan Fletcher School of Sleaze, there is no need to go there. Keep it professional. As to the vitriol, quoting my March 20, 2023, post regarding Trump vs. DeSantis:
It is natural that a candidate’s supporters will follow their lead. Also, a flamethrower such as fervent Trump supporter Laura Loomer is going to, well, throw flames.
Yeah, helpful. Primaries attract more fringe elements than general elections due to the general public’s political apathy, unless something is so overwhelmingly directly affecting them they can no longer ignore what is going on. Therefore, they are more susceptible to the noisemaker approach working. That does not make it the best practice. Marjorie Taylor Greene is right. We cannot afford to lose the White House in 2024 because a section of voters ostensibly on our side sits out the general election in a snit over what went down in the primary. Focus, people. And candidates. And candidates’ people. Blls Bailey: 'I'm sick and tired of all politicians both Democrat & Republicans trying to run everything in our lives! I thought that they worked for us, how did they end up being our dictators?'
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