The Republican National Committee is poised to hold its winter meeting in Las Vegas, and at first blush, one might think party leaders and activists have reason to feel cautious optimism as the election year gets underway in earnest.
But as Politico reported, it’s not quite working out that way.
Days before the Republican National Committee was set to convene here, hundreds of Republican officials gathered in a casino ballroom Monday to vent their grievances about the party — and warn that it is ill prepared for the 2024 election. “We are at war,” one man shouted from a microphone at the event, hosted by the conservative group Turning Point Action, lifting his arm in the air. “Where are the tools? Where are all the little things that the left is doing but we don’t?”
The report added that some Republicans in and surrounding the RNC are feeling deep frustrations “about its finances, about its struggles to match Democrats’ organizing efforts, [and] about its four-term leader.” Politico went on to note that “many grassroots activists say McDaniel has lost their trust, perhaps permanently.”
So, perhaps things aren’t going especially well for Republicans at the national level. Perhaps the party can take solace at progress at the state level?
Perhaps not.
On Jan. 7, the Republican Party of Michigan removed Kristina Karamo as state party chair after months of infighting and weak fundraising. Karamo claimed the voted didn’t count, as things stand, no one seems to have any idea who the current chair is.
On Jan. 8, the Republican Party of Florida removed Christian Ziegler as state party chair after he faced allegations of rape and video voyeurism. Prosecutors later said he would not be prosecuted for rape, though they’re proceeding with allegations of video voyeurism, accusing Ziegler of allegedly video recording a sexual encounter without consent.
On Jan. 24, Republican Party of Arizona Chair Jeff DeWit resigned following the release of a dubious audio recording of a conversation he apparently had with failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. In other words, over the course of just 17 days, the state Republican chairs in Arizona, Florida, and Michigan — by most measures, three key battleground states — either quit or were kicked out. In case that weren’t quite enough, in Oklahoma, the state Republican Party generated national headlines over the weekend when it appeared to censure Republican Sen. James Lankford for negotiating a possible bipartisan agreement on border policy. In an odd twist, however, the chair of the Oklahoma GOP issued a statement claiming that the meeting at which Lankford was censured was “illegitimate“ — though the vice chair of the state party apparently disagrees. All of which is to say, things could be better in Republican Party politics.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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