2024 should be cakewalk for Republicans, but they're determined to give failing Dems a win

As a conservative voter whom Republicans should be trying to court ahead of next year’s pivotal election, I have one question:

What the hell? 

The circus in Congress this week is a pointless distraction from the very real issues facing this country. And simply put, it makes Republicans look like fools.

For the first time in U.S. history, a House speaker was ousted from his job. Why? We don’t really know, other than a minuscule number of GOP representatives were perturbed that Kevin McCarthy hadn’t delivered on every single promise he’d made months earlier to get the role.

Florida “Republican” Rep. Matt Gaetz led the coup, and has basked in the media spotlight this past week. Gaetz threw a tantrum because McCarthy worked with Democrats to pass a short-term government funding measure that avoided an impending shutdown.

Forget Gaetz: Don't give brats like Gaetz any more attention than they deserve (which is zero)

Gaetz and his merry band of seven outlaws (who make up a measly 4% of House Republicans) succeeded in throwing out McCarthy, who while imperfect had proven he could force Democrats and President Joe Biden to the bargaining table, as evidenced in the debt ceiling fight earlier this spring.

Guess what? Now, these troublemakers have no clue what to do, much like the dog who “catches” the car it’s been chasing. After the vote, Gaetz said, "We should elect a speaker who's better."

Good luck with that.

Republicans should have the election in the bag

I say all this not because I love Democrats and how they govern. Quite the opposite. And plenty of Americans agree with me.

Voters are not happy with Biden and his policies, as survey after survey shows. They are concerned with the president’s age and obvious decline, not to mention Democrats’ handling (or lack thereof) of high inflation, illegal immigration and crime.

A new poll from Gallup is the latest to highlight that most Americans think Republicans are better suited (by 14 percentage points)  to oversee the economy than Democrats – 53% say the GOP would do “a better job of keeping the country prosperous.” That is the widest advantage for Republicans in decades.

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Similarly, a recent NBC News poll found voters “overwhelmingly” trust Republicans over Democrats to better handle border security, crime and the economy. The pollster who conducted the poll said: “On this survey after 20 or 30 years, Republicans dealing with the economy [versus Democrats], immigration and crime are all at their all-time highs.”

The country seems ready to go in a different direction in 2024. So, of course, Republicans are working hard to mess it up.

Democrats are basking in GOP's follies

Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw made this observation on social media Tuesday ahead of the vote to fire McCarthy: “When we vote on the motion to vacate, Democrats will look more united to the American people. Some in the GOP would rather focus on infighting and grabbing headlines instead of doing their jobs. That’s no way to win elections or the confidence of the American people.”

That’s absolutely true. Gaetz has earned the title “Biden’s favorite Republican.”

Democrats also look sleazy in all this. All of the Democratic caucus joined the eight defecting Republicans in voting to take away McCarthy’s gavel.

Bad look: Democrats should hang their heads in shame for helping oust principled Republican

Democratic leadership paid lip service to wanting the GOP to move away from "MAGA extremism" and “move the country forward.” Yet, it did the opposite in backing Gaetz, who is as MAGA as they come.

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Democrats would rather see the chaos take the country’s attention away from the glaring problems at the border, our exploding national debt and the high prices at the grocery store.

The country wants a party it can trust. Republicans could be that party, if they don’t keep sabotaging their chances like they did this week.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gaetz defeats McCarthy as House speaker, but helps Biden with 2024