What Have Republicans Done for Voters Lately?

MAGA Republicans, cocooned in the rightwing media bubble and obliged to pay fealty to Donald Trump, profess belief in all sorts of wacky things (e.g., the 2020 election was stolen, the economy is great, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is fit for his job). However, as the Wall Street Journal reported, “Republican officials are sounding the alarm and urging significant changes ahead of November’s midterm elections, worried that the war in Iran and Democratic enthusiasm could lead to a blowout. In some places, they fear it might already be too late.” So, they are not entirely divorced from reality.

The legacy media, perpetually determined to level the political playing field between a conspiracy-driven cult and a normal political party, obsess over what message Democrats will run on. Frankly, Democrats have so much material (the war, affordability, ICE terrorism, corruption, tax cuts for the rich paid for by Medicaid cuts, etc.) that their biggest challenge is framing a concise message that ties all the blunders and scandals together. The better question is: What will Republicans run on?

Legacy media might be steering clear of that question because the honest answer would lead to accusations that legacy media is rooting for Democrats. But let’s be blunt: Republicans have nothing positive to tout to voters. Let’s go through the list.

First, Republicans have been tied at the hip to their cult leader, rubber-stamping his nominees, cheering every policy (no matter how disastrous), giving him a green light on a hugely unpopular war (despite his failure to consult with Congress on it), ignoring his mental unraveling, and turning a blind eye toward his massive corruption. As Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pointed out, “We have to stop putting all the blame on the people who nominated this incompetent, toxic, malignant individual [Kash Patel]. What about the people who confirmed him? It’s extraordinary to me that Senate Republicans confirmed people like Noem, Bondi, Hegseth, RFK Jr, and Patel.”

Unfortunately for Republicans, the president whose mast they have bound themselves to is sinking. The latest NBC poll shows Trump at an all-time low in approval (37 percent - 63 percent) with 50 percent strongly disapproving. Reuters has him a point lower at 36 percent, while the Associated Press/NORC has him at a dismal 33 percent with only 30 percent (down 8 points since March) approving of his performance on the economy and 32 percent approving of his handling of Iran.

Takeaway: Except in Republican primaries and deep red locales, total fidelity to Trump is not something Republicans can tout; it is a major liability.

Second, Republican lawmakers’ dysfunction and abysmally low output are unmatched by any Congress in memory. They cannot pass the FISA bill. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is still unresolved. The “big, beautiful bill” is an albatross around Republicans’ necks, thanks in part to Democrats’ success in framing it as “massive tax cuts for the rich paid for by taking away healthcare for ordinary Americans.”

Republicans’ most toxic move may have been creating (and now adding to!) a DHS slush fund; the public’s perception of Trump’s violent mass deportation scheme remains negative, especially among Hispanics — whom Republicans thought they had permanently won over to their side. Given this GOP’s record of non-achievement and failure to take the affordability crisis seriously, it is fair to ask why they even bother showing up to work.

Takeaway: In allowing Trump to have his way on horrible policies (e.g., tariffs, the war, immigration), ignoring voters’ economic concerns, and failing to seriously legislate or conduct oversight, Republicans have ceded the competence/ governance issue.

Third, although they ran on an anti-deep state, anti-corruption message, Republicans have been spectacularly unsuccessful in uncovering any wrongdoing under the prior administration. Their election denialism (manifested in cheerleading pardons of violent Jan. 6 felons, ineffective/unproductive seizure of ballots, and the firing of critical FBI agents) led to more scandals. Their vindictive prosecutions have crumbled.

Meanwhile, Republicans have facilitated the largest grift in American history (e.g., corporations paying for a hideous ballroom; crypto investment from foreigners; son-in-law Jared Kushner — beneficiary of sheiks and potentates’ investments — negotiating an end to the Iran war; nefarious pardons; their own stock trades). 

Republicans have shrugged their shoulders at the greatest corruption spree in American history. And despite a law signed by Trump, Republicans have yet to force the Trump regime to release the Epstein files (while letting Pam Bondi out of testifying and refusing to bring contempt charges). Which, through negligence in doing their jobs, makes them part of the protection rackets for elites. Instead of turning up past corruption, they’ve allowed it to spread like wildfire to the benefit of the Trump family.

Takeaway: While MAGA posed as an outsider movement to root out corruption and the deep state, but instead Republicans have enabled a culture of corruption.

So, what are Republicans to do? They try blaming Joe Biden, but the public does not buy that he is still responsible for the economy. They try preconditioning the electorate to dispute the 2026 election with specious fraud claims but have found none: courts have slapped down demands for voter rolls (a scheme to purge voters), and a blue wave would make fraud claims entirely unbelievable.

They try labeling the affordability crisis a “hoax,” which only further enrages voters. They try to distract voters from serial failures with mean-spirited attacks on trans Americans, but the vast majority of voters do not put that on the list of their top concerns. They attempt to stir up white grievance with attacks on DEI, but wind up exposing their own racism and misogyny. They lamely accuse the Biden administration of weaponizing the Department of Justice, but even Trump’s own vindictive prosecutions have collapsed due to incompetence and lack of evidence.

In sum, Republicans are rarely asked what they have done to deserve re-election. Their celebrated subservience to Trump, dismal legislative record, and acquiescence in the epidemic of corruption all now work against them, while efforts to distract voters with non-issues or made-up “scandals” (e.g., DEI, trans athletes, voter fraud, Joe Biden!) have gone nowhere. The honest answer to voters’ perennial question: “What have you done for me lately?” has a simple answer. Absolutely nothing good.

-Jennifer Rubin, The Contrarian is reader-supported. To receive new posts, enable our work, help with litigation, and keep this opposition movement alive and engaged, please join the fight by becoming a subscriber.