Republicans know the vote count delays, the garrisoned counting centers, the expulsion of non-Democrat observers, the late-night ballot drops days after polls closed are evidence of stolen elections. But to admit that elections are crooked would be to admit they are part of a fraud. If the vote is rigged and you’re a Republican officeholder, you won for one of two reasons:
- Your election was rigged.
- You’re not important enough to defeat.
Those are sobering and humiliating conclusions to reach. So the battered Republican takes careful notes and excuses his abuser.
To certain Republicans who’ve spent too much time in politics, “when he’s good to me” is invitations to the right soirees with George Clooney—things you have to know a Democrat to get into. They’ll take “his” punches if “he” leaves a small Army post in the Republican’s state.
How sad. How depressing.
Meanwhile, the Republicans who have not been in politics long—Kari Lake, Herschel Walker, Donald Trump—fight like hell. They don’t concede (which is the whole purpose of the Looooooooong count). They don’t apologize. They don’t “respect” their Republican elders. They stand for things you and I can rally around. They paint pictures we can see and desire unlike the Turtle and that fake crier Paul Ryan.