Purging Anthony Gonzalez - WSJ Editorial
Last week had some bad omens for Republicans. First they failed to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and then Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez announced he wont run for re-election in 2022. Both events reveal the Donald Trump problem that looms over GOP prospects next year and in 2024. The California recall was always a long shot, but Democrats turned a close race into a rout by linking the recall and GOP candidate Larry Elder to Mr. Trump. The former President as usual claimed in advance that the recall vote would be rigged, but Mr. Newsom won so easily that even Mr. Trump was quiet afterward.
The retirement of Mr. Gonzalez is more significant because it highlights the dilemma that will confront GOP candidates in 2022. Mr. Gonzalez is the kind of young candidate Republicans need to expand their partys appeal. The 37-year-old is the son and grandson of Cuban immigrants, played football at Ohio State and the NFL, and worked in the tech industry. He represents the 16th Congressional district south and west of Cleveland that leans to the right but that a Democrat held as recently as 2008-2010. His voting record is solidly conservative on everything from social issues to economics to foreign policy. He opposed the impeachment articles against Mr. Trump over his Ukraine phone call.
Mr. Gonzalez easily won a second term in 2020. But he was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump after his disgraceful behavior on Jan. 6. He voted his conscience and hasnt made a media show of his vote. But Mr. Trump has targeted Mr. Gonzalez, as he has all Republicans who voted to impeach and those who dont accept his claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
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Mr. Trumps focus on the 2020 election is a major problem for the GOP. It focuses on the past when voters want to hear about the present and future. It also puts GOP candidates in a tough spot as they attempt to retake the suburban seats they will need to win the House, as well as swing Senate seats in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and New Hampshire. If they dont swear fealty to the stolen election canard, theyll risk being attacked by Mr. Trump and his supporters. But if they do agree with the Trump line, theyll give Democrats an opening to tie them to the Jan. 6 riot and Mr. Trumps attempt to overturn the election result.
The latter wont go down well in suburban swing districts, which are full of voters who rejected the GOP in 2018 to send a message to Mr. Trump. They gave Mr. Trump a chance in 2016 but had enough by 2020 and made Joe Biden the President. Mr. Trump doesnt want to admit the centrality of his role in these defeats, but the electoral data are clear.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-anthony-gonzalez-elder-jan-6-impeachment-2020-election-gop-republican-11632068553 (subscription)
msongs
(67,343 posts)question everything
(47,423 posts)current party is not for them.