RINO Senators threaten to bolt GOP

At least five “Republican In Name Only” (RINO) U.S. Senators are threatening to leave the Republican Party and turn Democrat. Their main objection is that their constituents insist on their support of the reelection campaign of Donald Trump. These constituents also demand support for election integrity measures and, if remotely possible, an audit of the Election of 2020. Nothing doing, say Sen. Lisa Murkowski (RINO-Alaska) and at least four other Senators. As radical as this might sound, the proper response to all these people should be: Good-bye and good riddance.

The RINO Manifesto

Republicans In Name Only are Republican officeholders and other Party registrants who are in the Party only to influence its primaries and avail themselves of patronage, a perceived advantage in fundraising, and other perquisites. Never once have they paid more than lip service to human liberty, or to rights as distinct from allowances. Perhaps none of them even know what a republic is – a multi-level government dedicated to a set of immutable laws that protect basic human rights and interests from arbitrary abrogation or cancellation by an arbitrary majority. Natural law – or God-given law – means nothing to them. The only law they recognize is positive law – laws that other humans see fit to make at any given moment.

One may rely on RINO Senators and Representatives only to impede real, freedom-loving Republicans when margins of control in either chamber are narrow. This is especially true in the House of Representatives, which Republicans now control by a very narrow margin: 222 to 212 with one vacancy. But it also matters in the Senate, which Democrats now control mainly because they have a Vice-President to break ties.

In 2024, the Democrats will need to defend twenty seats, and the Republicans eleven. Nebraska is unusual: both its Senate seats are up for reelection. In addition, one Senator each from California, Maryland, Michigan, and Indiana is not seeking reelection. The Indiana seat is Republican; the other three are Democratic. (Unless Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., changes her mind about retiring.)

What are they saying?

On Monday, The Conservative Treehouse carried a piece with a headline about Sen. Murkowski. Lisa Murkowski is a member of the Murkowski Dynasty in Alaska, one of the two most powerful. (The others are the Begiches.) The Murkowskis and the Begiches combined to install Ranked Choice Voting in Alaska. Then Nick Begich, running for Congress, spitefully ordered his followers to list Mary Peltola as their second choice. Consequently, she, not Sarah Palin, is the At-large Representative from Alaska.

So now Lisa Murkowski, for the first time, threatened to leave the Republican Party. Treehouse referenced a piece in The Hill, also published Monday, having her words on the subject:

We should be concerned about this as Republicans. I’m having more “rational Republicans” coming up to me and saying, “I just don’t know how long I can stay in this party.” Now our party is becoming known as a group of kind of extremist, populist over-the-top [people] where no one is taking us seriously anymore.

You have people who felt some allegiance to the party that are now really questioning, “Why am I [in the party?]” I think it’s going to get even more interesting as we move closer to the elections and we start going through some of these primary debates.

Is it going to be a situation of who can be more outlandish than the other?

Of course, the Hill interviewer never reached those whom Sen. Murkowski calls “rational Republicans.” So perhaps she is giving cover for herself asking why is she still “here”?

The Hill then quoted one Senator who declined to give his or her name. Which is why CNAV says at least five Republican Senators are threatening to leave the Party. And what does this anonymous Senator say?

There are an astonishing number of people in my state who believe the election was stolen.

Among which, count CNAV in, Senator, whoever you are. And what are we to make of this statement?

[The growing strength of radical populism] makes it a lot more difficult to govern, it makes it difficult to talk to constituents.

Make it more difficult to govern? Does CNAV understand you correctly?

There are people who surprise me — I’m surprised they have those views. It’s amazing to me the number of people, the kind of people who think the election was stolen. I don’t want to use this word but it’s not just a “red-neck” thing. It’s people in business, the president of a bank, a doctor.

Which means people are waking up, Senator.

The threat

The Hill revealed these four Senators who spoke for attribution to sound themes similar to these. They include Senators John Thune (RINO-S.D.), John Cornyn (RINO-Texas), Todd Young (RINO-Ind.), and Mitt Romney (RINO-Utah). “Mittens” in fact called certain Republicans “morons” for speaking at events where some populists have gathered.

Writer “Sundance,” writing at Treehouse, called such people “Decepticons.” Furthermore, he said:

[S]everal Republican senators are now saying they just cannot be members of the Republican Party if they are forced to represent the interests of the base voter. These very specifically named Republicans have always been members of the UniParty in D.C.; however, now they are saying “populism” amid the commonsense, America First voting base is not going to be acceptable.

The senators are openly warning that if putting American interests first is going to be demanded by the voters, these Republicans will just become Democrats. There is no reason for Americans to distrust the institutions the Republican senators support, and there will be no compromise or discussion.

That might not be a verbatim summary of the interviewer’s findings at The Hill, but it’s an acceptable paraphrase. “More difficult to govern”? “Difficult to talk to constituents?” That’s the sort of thing a school teacher or (vice-)principal might say of an unruly or underachieving student. It is not the sort of thing an adult says to or about another adult.

“Good riddance!” says Joe Hoft, who runs his own commentary site, commenting on the pieces at Treehouse and The Hill.

So what damage can these RINO Senators do – and what about the rest of the Senate?

Of the RINO Five, Murkowski, Thune, Young, and Cornyn are not up for reelection; Mitt Romney is, and is running. Murkowski and Young will be up for reelection in 2028; Thune and Cornyn will be up for reelection in 2026. So in theory, if any of these four switched Parties, they could do a lot of damage for two or four years. (We don’t know who those two anonymous, and arrogant, Senators are.)

But if they were going to rebel, they actually picked a bad time for their own cause. The Senate is already in Democratic hands. Of the Ten Most Likely Senate Seats to Flip in 2024 (according to CNN), seven are Democratic. And when CNN lists Ted Cruz and Rick Scott as likely to lose, they are indulging in wishful thinking. A State now installing its own riparian barriers to illegal entry will not elect a Democrat to the Senate. Period. End of memo. And if they think Rick Scott is going to be in trouble for his five-year agency sunset idea, they haven’t been talking to the interviewer from The Hill.

Arizona is a special case. They will likely have a three-way race, among Sen. Kyrstin Sinema (D→I-Ariz.), Rep. Ruben Gallago (D-Ariz.), and either Kari Lake or Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County.)

Utahans need to “primary” Mittens. If they do that, they might save the Senate majority, even if Murkowski and crew do their worst. Then its on to the 2026 and 2028 primaries.