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Dave Caudill| Opinion contributor

Phil Heimlich, I salute you.

Your famous father devised a maneuver to save people from choking on food while trying to swallow. You sir, are trying to save the Republican Party from choking as it maneuvers to swallow Donald Trump.

Heimlich is part of a far-too-rare cohort of the GOP. I hesitate to use the word "party"to describe what has become for so many in it a snarling, delusional cult with Trump ensconced as its chief snarler and truth denier.

Why cant more Republicans show the kind of integrity and willingness to compromise that Heimlich has consistently, going back to when Trump emerged on his fumbling quest to transform this country into an oligarchy led by one more rich would-be autocrat.

Lets try to understand what puts so many Republican officeholders in thrall to Trump. They, like a lot of politicians, put holding office and winning elections above almost all else. But as the news organization Axios Jonathan Swan put it to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell in a recent interview: "Where is your moral red line?"

The unfailing truth is that Trump lost the 2020 election by some 7 million votes. Why back such a poor loser who cant even admit that he lost?

Many Republicans like to cite "problems" with vote counting in the 2020 elections. But this is clearly another political ploy made despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Elected officials, courts and law enforcement on both sides of the political spectrum examined the possibility of fraud in the election and found that if it happened at all, it could not have changed the outcome.

Warren Davidson, Heimlichs opponent in Ohios 8th District GOP primary, is among the Trump minions unwilling to admit that President Biden won the election. He almost surely knows that Biden won legitimately but calculates that its not politically expedient to say so. Hes the very definition of a politician without backbone.

But, of course, Davidson is not alone. Such a position has become the litmus test for a Trump endorsement, and Davidson has that. Presumably, it helps him to sleep at night.

Fortunately, Heimlich is not alone either. Republicans for the Rule of Law (ruleoflawrepublicans.com) is among the organizations working to restore the partys integrity.

Sarah Longwell, the groups executive director and publisher of The Bulwark (thebulwark.com), a news network that provides political reporting and analysis "free from the constraints of partisan loyalties,"attempted to explain the power of the "Big Lie"that Trump won the 2020 election. Longwell speaks often to focus groups and has concluded that people who believe the Big Lie dont believe its a lie. They are not bad people, shes concluded, they simply have no idea that they are being lied to.

A huge part of the reason they have no idea, Longwell writes, is that the news sources they pay attention to (heres looking at you, Fox) and candidates and public officials they voted for are going along with it. The officials do it to prop up their approval ratings, and Fox does it mostly to bolster its viewership. Consequently, the lie perpetuates itself.

Heimlich, and a lot of other Republicans, even those who wont say so, see through this Wizard-of-Oz-like curtain.

In a recent Enquirer news story, Hamilton County GOP Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said of Heimlichs run against Davidson: "If he thinks hes rescuing us from Donald Trump, hes mistaken. Thats not how it works."

Mr. Triantafilou, how does it work? How does the Republican Party find more candidates who have crawled out from under the anti-democratic, mendacious, bloated boulder that is Donald Trump?

Dave Caudill of Mount Lookout is a freelance writer and editor and a former Enquirer staffer.

Read more:
Opinion: Heimlich working to restore Republican Party's integrity - The Cincinnati Enquirer

Leonard Pitts Jr.| Austin American-Statesman

Heres what were not going to do here.

We are not going to indulge the lazy rationalizations, false equivalence, cheap gaslighting and other forms of rhetorical chicanery that have become so common to political discourse in this era. Our country is in crisis, and we owe it better.

The warning is for those who claimed offense at the following observation, made in this space a few days back: What Americans have lost to be painfully accurate, what Republicans have trashed in pursuit of power is the willingness and ability to share a common national identity. It would seem to be self-evident truth. But not everyone agrees.

Constantly blaming Republicans, griped one respondent.

You ONLY blame the Republicans, complained another.

You exclusively blame Republicans, grumbled yet another.

Well, theres a reason the Republicans get the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative. Its because pay close attention here they deserve the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative.

Sorry, but Hunter Bidens laptop didnt do that. Black Lives Matter didnt do that. Whatever thing Fox News last told its audience to fear did not do that.

The Republican Party did it by a campaign of demonizing dissent, shredding norms and boundaries, embracing a politics of white resentment and fear and, perhaps most corrosively, delegitimizing the very idea of knowable fact, so that an ordinary birth certificate becomes an object of suspicion, an ordinary election a seedbed of distrust and the sacking of the U.S. Capitol an innocent visit by tourists.

Is it mere partisanship to hold the party accountable for this? Or are we not talking about something bigger and more foundational than political gamesmanship? Note how many of the GOPs ardent defenders George F. Will, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Kathleen Parker, Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Mitt Romney, Jonah Goldberg have become, to various degrees, estranged from it in recent years. None of those worthies may be credibly accused of being anti-Republican.

But what they are is conscientious enough that they cannot deny self-evident truth when it is right before them. Some of us prefer to peddle misguided both-sideism, to spew non-responsive non-sequiturs or stick metaphorical fingers in metaphorical ears going la la la la la la la until the truth safely passes them by.

Meantime, one party steers the ship of state toward jagged rocks.

Political scientists Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein once observed that, The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

They wrote that in a 2012 book called Its Even Worse Than It Looks. Ten years later, its even worse than that.

Its important to be clear on that, not to blame the GOP but because James Baldwin was right. You cannot fix what you will not face. And what America needs to face is the simple, chilling fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger.

Confronting that does not make you a partisan.

It makes you a patriot.

Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald.

Originally posted here:
Pitts: The Republican Party is a clear and present danger - Austin American-Statesman

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Lt. Col. (Ret) Alexander Vindman: Donald Trump and the Republican Party share this burden of this war - MSNBC

If you dont believe the Republicans can blow their chances of winning majorities in the House and Senate midterms this year, then you have not paid attention to the past five years of U.S. politics.

At least three factors could reverse the predicted fortune for the GOP. The first would be voter apathy by traditional Republicans, conservatives and people of faith. The second would be drum roll, please potential fallout from anything Donald Trump says, does or hints. And the third would be a full-court press by Democrats, aided by some in the mainstream media, to come across as suddenly moderate while metaphorically throwing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as far overboard as possible.

All three factors will happen to some extent. The question is, will some combination of them be enough to hold the Democratic majority in Congress after November?

Apparently Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnells (R-Ky.) main strategy for winning is to avoid mentioning anything that Republicans would do if they regained majority control.

The quote sometimes attributed to Napoleon Never interfere with an enemy while hes in the process of destroying himself makes sense if one believes the Democrats are failing across the board, but many Republican voters who have been burned before by the GOP leadership still want to hear a plan.

Polls indicate a red wave in November. Maybe so, but what if a substantial number of Republican voters adopt the unyielding position of Fool me 10 times, shame on you. Try to fool me again and Im not going to vote.

Impossible? Trumps election to the White House in 2016 should remind us all to expect the unexpected. McConnell and other entrenched elites of the Republican Party may think the partys more traditional voting bloc will never desert them, but they rarely walk in the shoes of working-class Republicans who, like everyone else, are feeling the brutal effects of the pandemic topped by skyrocketing inflation.

Just like the entrenched Democratic Party elites, these Republicans live in a bubble of favors, luxury, security, wealth and gold-plated health care plans. Theyre used to extravagant fundraisers, five-star resorts and the vacation homes of billionaire donors.

As the election draws nearer, we can assume that many of these voters who have been taken for granted by party leaders will have reached their saturation point regarding empty promises. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), spoke directly to the frustration of conservative voters when he released his 11-Point Plan to Rescue America.

Some believe the plan needed more editing and was released too soon, but its rally around conservative principles theme, much of it echoed by Trump, managed to elicit the wrath of McConnell and the small army of consultants who are loyal to him. In response to that noise, NRSC communications director and Scott campaign aide Chris Hartline said: We dont spend much time worrying about criticisms from anonymous Republican consultants who lost the Senate last cycle and who have gotten rich off maintaining the status quo.

Indeed, the McConnell wing of the GOP might be shocked by how many traditional voters stay home in November if they dont start seeing conservative planks actually nailed into the foundation of the party.

Next, regarding Trump, as Republicans have witnessed the past few years: The Don giveth, but the Don also taketh away big time. Will Trumps cult of personality bring more Republicans and independents into the voting booth, or will it drive them away (as he did in the 2020 Georgia runoff election and Arizonas general election by bashing Georgia Republicans, the voting process and the memory of the late John McCain)?

And then we come to what the Democrats can do to try to salvage victory. Some candidates, of course, will try to put as much distance as possible between them and the Biden administrations failing policies. Biden is flirting with the lowest approval ratings in history, and some see Harris as more out of touch with each passing day.

If calling out Biden and Harris, or making fun of them as we saw with the viral video in which Biden turned to shake hands with an invisible person and with Saturday Night Live mocking Harris can save the Democrats majority in Congress, you can bet that more liberal pundits and others will be willing to do so as the midterms approach.

Will the Democrats defy the odds and pull off an upset this fall? With 28 weeks to go, it would be delusional to think that a Republican victory is fait accompli.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration. His latest book is The 56: Liberty Lessons From Those Who Risked All to Sign the Declaration of Independence.

Original post:
Republicans are more than capable of blowing the 2022 midterms - The Hill

EDITORS NOTE: This is one of several stories in a regular series with a purpose of preparing voters for the May 17 primary election.

A pair of police officers from the same department are aiming for the chance to go toe to toe with the current Boyd County sheriff in the 2022 general election.

Theres only room for one Republican.

May 17s primary election will determine if Catlettsburg PDs Terry Clark or Jamie Reihs will represent the R party against Democrat Bobby Jack Woods, the incumbent.

Clark, 65, and Reihs, 48, are slow to jab each other, which is why its been a clean race up to this point.

Clark complimented Reihs and Reihs reciprocated when given the chance to describe what its like to duel each other for this position. But each still made his case as to why hes better suited to take on Woods come November.

Jamies a great guy; no complaints about him, Clark said. Ive known Jamie since he was a kid. His father (Jim) was on the Boyd County Police great guy. I cant stay anything bad against except I can throw in some Ronald Reagan comments, because who he ran against (Walter Mondale in 1984) was in his 50s and Reagan was in his 70s. He said he didnt want his age difference to be a factor. Ive got roughly twice the experience Jamie has.

Reihs and Clark work different shifts, so they dont cross each others paths often.

He and I are very professional, Reihs said. We dont bring (the election) up, and we just try to do whats right for the agency.

Clark ran four years ago in the Primary against Woods on the Democrat ticket.

Like many in the recent red-wave movement in this portion of the U.S., he hopped on the Republican train sometime in 2019.

One of my friends told me I was a closet Republican, and come to find out, she was right, Clark said.

Clarks career in law enforcement spans four-plus decades. He started with auxiliary police and then joined Ashland Police Department in 1980. He was with APD for 27 years. He worked with the late Chief Tom Kelley, and picked up a slew of wisdom from him, he said.

There are many times Ill ask, what would Tom do? Clark said.

Clark logged time in patrol, crime prevention, the drug program, as a drug liaison officer for FADE and detective. Clark retired from APD only to unretire about 30 days later, latching onto Catlettsburg PD as a part-timer. That lasted from October 2007 to March 2008, he said, and then he became full-time.

Engaged with no children, Clark said hes ready to devote his time to a new office if hes elected.

If he is named Sheriff, he said, he would sit down with local leaders and work toward the solution on drug issues.

We can come up with better answers than what weve got so far, Clark said.

Clark mentioned the Sanibel House in Catlettsburg as a positive tool for drug rehabilitation. He said CPD and that facility have a strong relationship.

Theyre cooperative about everything, Clark said. I told them, Were friends as long as we can work like this.

On the issue of drugs, just putting people in jail is not working, he said.

Clark is emphasizing getting back to community-oriented policing, he said.

We started that in the 1980s with (APD) Chief (Ron) McBride working on neighborhood problems and resolving issues, Clark said. We need to get back into the community and get the community to support policing again.

Clark is also the DARE officer at Catlettsburg Elementary.

If he is ultimately elected Sheriff, Clark said his door would always be open and would be receptive about any concerns.

Reihs said the same in his interview with The Daily Independent.

After 24 years with the Boyd County Sheriffs Department and two with Boyd County Police prior to that Reihs made one of the hardest decisions hes had to make in his law enforcement career, he said. He tendered his resignation with Boyd Sheriffs in May 2021.

In order to run for sheriff, Reihs had to resign, he said, because of the merit system former Sheriff Terry Keelin implemented in Boyd County.

It broke my heart to go in there and have to resign, said Reihs, who had worked his way up to Chief Deputy under Woods.

Reihs donned a different badge almost immediately, though, when Russell Police brought him on part time. Not long after, Catlettsburg had a full-time opening for Reihs.

Like Clark, Reihss motivation for running for sheriff is simple:People.

The biggest thing is interacting with people and trying to help them,Reihs said. (Law enforcement) has always been something Ive been interested in and passionate about. Idont think youre going to find anybody willing to put the hours and effort in like I am.

While Reihs knows hell have to log a good deal of desk time if hes elected Sheriff given hed be the countys chief tax collector hell still be right out there in the middle of them. I dont care to arrest somebody, I dont care to work a wreck. Its a good feeling to get out and work with (fellow police officers).

Reihs said his No. 1 objective is to continue to be aggressive against drugs.

We cant arrest our way out of it,he said.

He also said more training for the deputies is needed, and that a special response team is very much needed, and I know it costs money.

Reihs acknowledged APD and Kentucky State Police have been awesome, but Idont want to be in a situation where APD, KSPand us are working critical incidents at the same time. We need to get an SRTto handle certain incidents.

Reihs said having patrol cruisers continuously throughout areas of Boyd County is a must, too.

Married with three children, Reihs said campaigning on top of working midnight shift and detailing vehicles on the side has consumed a bunch of hours, but its all been worth it.

Ive missed some things, but Ive enjoyed the interaction, talking and meeting people,he said. I like to have that interaction and feedback.

(606) 326-2664 |

asnyder@dailyindependent.com

See the original post:
Battle of the C'burg badges: Clark, Reihs work to represent Republican Party in Sheriff's race - The Independent