OPINION:
As the autopsy on the Republicans’ historic midterm defeat continues, much of the commentary on the right has only tepidly addressed the realities of the party’s condition.
Instead, Republican self-immolation has continued as officials and commentators alike wrongly claim the party lost because it failed to “do anything” over the past 18 months. This level of intellectual dishonesty could be meant only to obscure some convenient truths — and no, I am not talking about our relationship with Israel.
Much of the collapse can be blamed on messaging failures. I will break those failures into three main categories. First, unity. Republicans in recent years have spent far too much time dividing against one another. Are you MAGA? Are you “establishment”? Are you “America First”? Cutting taxes, fighting welfare fraud and closing the border sound “America First.” Then again, are you “America First” enough?
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Do you love President Trump or just like him? Maybe you do not like him enough to be acceptable. Are you in the Trump wing of the party, the neocon wing, the RINO wing, the isolationist wing or the Tucker Carlson and Vice President J.D. Vance wing? Mind you, all those people happen to agree on about 80% to 90% of policy.
Despite that, I would be willing to bet that more news stories over the past 18 months have been about Republican infighting than about the tax cuts, drops in crime, a booming stock market, Medicaid reform, the tackling of welfare fraud and other accomplishments of the administration.
When Republicans insist on dividing among themselves, it is an unforced error that detracts from a policy record that keeps much of the president’s 2024 campaign promises.
Greater unity is more important than ever before. Democrats and independents voted for socialists, antisemites and Islamists because Republicans offered them a near-constant stream of division. Mr. Trump loves shooting inside the tent. It needs to stop.
Second is discipline. If you had a nickel for every time someone told me that Mr. Trump was the best messenger for the Republican Party, you would be Elon Musk. At this point in his presidency, he is not the party’s best messenger.
Many Republicans and conservatives are exhausted by the party’s identity being totally defined by the whims of one person. They are tired of the 90-minute speeches and press conferences about prescription drug prices that careened into 15 other things, including insults leveled at reporters, however deserved they may be.
When it came to Iran, Mr. Trump waited a month into combat operations to address the nation — and then claimed more than 40 times that a deal could be reached at any time.
Mr. Trump has now been the focal point of American politics longer than any other political figure since President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Trump fatigue is real and historically consistent. The question now is: How do we move forward to ensure that the last two years of Mr. Trump’s term are seen as a success leading into the 2028 presidential election?
Rallies do not win elections. Message discipline does.
Governing is not a solo act. It is an orchestra. The president is the conductor. He keeps people in the right place in the music. He cues the soloists and ensures the ensemble performs together for the audience.
Mr. Trump has many great qualities, but his undisciplined approach to discussing issues and his own record diminish the impact of his accomplishments.
More voices and more consistency are needed to win back the confidence of the electorate. That goes for members of Congress too. Message discipline and coordination have been a Republican blind spot for years.
The third issue is empathy. I have long held that if Mr. Trump had demonstrated some level of empathy during the COVID-19 crisis, he would have been reelected in a walk. Instead, the public saw daily press briefings that often went off the rails.
This year, when the public polling told the White House that Americans were concerned about affordability, artificial intelligence and gas prices, the president’s response was often dismissive.
The day before the election, he held a press conference about the Reflecting Pool. The morning after the election, he was out inspecting the new ballroom.
Empathy may be hard for someone with Mr. Trump’s personality type, but we have all seen glimmers of that too-often-hidden side of his character.
He is just more comfortable on the attack, calling people names and saying what he thinks, unfiltered. It is part of what has made him a generational political figure, but it is now hampering the advancement of his agenda.
Democrats claim to be empathetic, but, in reality, they care more about power and government than people. Republicans have a real opportunity here. After all, it is more empathetic and compassionate to allow people to have more wealth, more freedom and more control over their future.
Introspection and adjustment on those three conditions will help the Republican Party begin the rebuilding process.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax TV.
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