Helpless and Cornered, MAGA Opts for Republican Voter Suppression
When relentless hyperbolic vitriol backfires
There are many words and phrases that could be used to describe MAGA. “Politically savvy” isn’t one of them.
If you are a politician of an anti-establishment bent and use hyperbole and vitriol to rile up voters and gain support, then fine. If that’s what wins the day for you, others may not like it, but you’ve figured out a way to win. Good for you.
But you’ll probably find out that there’s only so far this strategy can go. And, conveniently, we can now witness and example of this realization happening in real time.
The most prominent MAGA spokesperson at this time, for better or worse (depending on your perspective), is Marjorie Tayor Greene. She epitomizes the mindlessly angry, conspiratorial, burn-it-all-down wing of the Republican Party. We seem to now be in the “burn it all down” phase.
A progression of perceived wrongs has greatly miffed her, including the following:
Speaker Mike Johnson negotiated with Democrats to fund the government
Speaker Mike Johnson negotiated with Democrats to continue FISA surveillance powers
Speaker Mike Johnson negotiated with Democrats to fund military support for Ukraine
Do you notice a pattern here? Never mind her singing a much more conciliatory tune when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with Democrats to fund the government (she fully supported him all throughout his initial Speaker vote and subsequent removal process). Now, she has decided that a functioning government that can acquire evidence against sinister foreign spy activities (including an unspecified Republican candidate, potentially) and support a democracy fighting an unjust war against an autocratic adversary is the last straw.
Instead of expressing disappointment and giving persuasive reasons why these bills are not what’s best for the country, she’s been loudly railing against everything and everyone from anywhere she can, with an emphasis on Johnson and her fellow non-MAGA Republicans.
Much of what she’s saying seems designed to rile people up and attempt another revolution (we’re 1-for-2 on revolutions so far. Might as well try for the winning record!), but it’s more likely to demoralize a significant contingent of Republicans.
Here’s some of her recent quotes in the buildup and aftermath of the Ukraine funding vote:
"Mike Johnson's House of Representatives so proud to work for Ukraine. Not the American people!!! It's despicable!"
"This is the sellout of America today.”
“Zelensky thanks Speaker Mike Johnson (D-Ukraine) for sending $61 BILLION of your hard-earned tax dollars to fuel a foreign war”
“This whole thing is the most repulsive, disgusting thing happening, and the American people are the ones writing the check….I absolutely hate everybody here that is doing this. I seriously hate them for doing this.”
"…a complete and total surrender to [Democrats]. We are a Uniparty that is hell-bent on remaining on the path of self-inflicted destruction."
“The people criticizing me are not the American people. The American people agree with me, and I’ve talked to them, and I’ve seen it all over. They are outraged, and what they’re saying is they don’t want to vote for Republicans anymore … The Republican Party in charge right now, it’s no different than the Democrat party.”
I hate to agree with Maria Bartiromo on anything, but she had a point when she interviewed Greene this weekend, and said:
“How is this leading to reelecting President Trump? How is this leading to the American people believing that the Republicans can govern? People are saying, ‘Look, she’s creating chaos. She’s making the entire party look like it’s disrupted.’ Your reaction and response to those criticisms?”1
Yes, actually, great question. In what way is Greene’s reaction going to help Republicans in 2024? The answer is that it’s not. And it’s the reason why mindless anger—while very attractive in the short term—is not an answer for long-term political success. If you’re going to melt down any time you don’t get your way exactly, and try to drag down and discredit the whole system at the same time, who are you inspiring to vote for you?
Her outrage is going to further suppress Republican voters, in the same way that all of the election fraud nonsense will. Why would people vote if they believe the system is already rigged against them? Why does it matter to put Republicans in charge when, as Greene puts it, they are “no different than the Democrat party”?
Greene might think that she’s going off on some noble cause, like David against Goliath. And fine, that approach can be somewhat politically viable in certain pockets here and there. But as the most prominent voice in the party at the moment, it does not bode well for a sustained persuasion campaign. Relentlessly trying to turn voters against the system they are voting within does not inspire participation in that system.
And this could have potentially huge effects on the election, especially in Greene’s home state of Georgia. Greene is from a very safe Congressional district that is assured these days to pick a Republican as their Representative. She won the 14th District in 2022 66%-34%, a margin of 82,000 votes. The Georgia primaries are a month away, but it seems certain that Greene will be the Republican nominee again.
Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by just under 12,000 votes, a .3% margin, a tiny amount. It’s very conceivable that the demoralization campaign by Greene, if continued, will prevent Trump from making a comeback in Georgia in 2024. And Trump’s path to victory pretty much must include Georgia. As of now, no pundits are even considering that Georgia might vote Biden again, all the projected Electoral College maps include GA in the Trump column, based on today’s polls. And all of these projections get turned on their heads if Georgia goes to Biden again.
If Greene was just known and worshipped only in her own district, that would be one thing. It would not be shocking if 12,000 or more of her voters, about 7% of her vote total, decided not to show up on Election Day 2024. But she would still win the district by a landslide. Trump, on the other hand, would struggle even if Republicans elsewhere in the state made up the voting margin he lost by in 2020.
But as the most nationally prominent MAGA spokesperson, other than Trump, she has a large following. Others around her state and the country actually listen to her and care about what she says. They don’t represent the real “American people” like she says, but they are a significant portion of America. How they respond to her could tip the election in battleground states, especially the more red-leaning ones like Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, even Florida, where the margins weren’t that wide, and less turnout will make a huge difference.
By her vitriolic proclamations, Greene is essentially committing voter suppression on the very voters that she and Republicans need if they have any shot at all at winning any branch of the federal government. She’ll have to hope that getting extra clicks on Xitter (pronounced shitter) was worth it.
This question is what prompted the final quote in my list of Greene quotes
Moscow Marge doesn’t care. She just wants to go another couple of years without having to get a real job.
Nice of her to spell out explicitly what we’ve known unofficially for years: If you don’t agree with her, you’re not actually an American. (Ironic, since about half of ISIS doesn’t hate America as much as she and her crowd do.)
The GOP is a death cult.
Vote fucking blue in such large numbers so that these GOP weridos will finally fuck off into a black hole forever and never come back. I'm so FUCKING sick of these assholes.