Opinion | The GOP’s strategy for retaking power is uglier than you think

February 26, 2021 ☼ gop2022voter-suppression

Source: The Washington Post - Link

By now, it should be clear to even the most committed both-sides commentators that Republicans are rerunning their 2009 scorched-earth strategy. Back then, Republicans correctly calculated that if they denied the Democratic president any and all support, he’d bear the blame for a sluggish recovery and they could pillory him for failing to achieve bipartisan cooperation.

But what if the strategy is even more radical this time? What if Republicans have calculated that they can take back at least one chamber of Congress, grinding President Joe Biden’s agenda to a halt, even if Biden largely succeeds?

Republicans may well be fully expecting Democrats to pass a series of economic rescue and stimulus proposals — all on their own — that actually do get the economy booming again, even as the vaccine rollout and other policies successfully tame the pandemic.

Yet in this scenario, Republicans still know that even if this happens, they still have a good chance at recapturing the House at a minimum, helped along by a combination of voter suppression and other counter-majoritarian tactics and built-in advantages.

They cannot win the long run, but can cause significant damage in the short run if they capture the House. One can only hope that moderates refuse to vote for the extremist candidates that will be nominated.