Let us begin with some political insight from The Washington Post on the G.O.P.'s midterm worries: "Republican leaders, who have long felt well-positioned to make gains, are wary of refocusing on topics that could diminish their advantage."
Now that we know that politicians are "wary" of focusing on issues that cost them elections, we can move on to the Republican Party's youthful Augustinian philosophy, which was, as you recall, a desire to be chaste — but not too soon. Suffice it to say that Republicans' Supreme Court tripped them up by callously stripping American women of their rights just months before a national election. This was bad, as the Post might observe.
Politico reports that, privately, Republicans are not quite the vocal human-rights bashers they had pretended to be in campaigns past. "Quietly," writes Politico, Republican strategists and party operatives admit they very much wanted to blackball women from the whole human rights thing, "they just didn’t want it to come right now."
Even Trump is just barely bright enough to realize that the G.O.P.-S.C. campaign to abolish the rights of half the American electorate was, shall we say, rather ill timed. (And it always would be.)
Publicly, the organized crime boss is hogging the credit. Roe’s repeal was "only made possible because I delivered everything as promised," he said in a statement. Privately, he is throwing another of his famous tantrums, according to a source who had the misfortune of talking with him.
"He keeps shitting all over his greatest accomplishment," said the source to Rolling Stone. "When you speak to him, it’s the response of someone fearing the backlash and fearing the politics of what happens when conservatives actually get what they want. I do not think he’s enjoying the moment as much as many of his supporters are."
Always the huckster, however, Trump is capitalizing on that which he sees as "so stupid." Immediately after the Court released its decision, out went another of his emails: "Roe v. Wade has been OVERTURNED thanks to Pres Trump! Do you support the Supreme Court’s decision? TELL US HERE."
From the Reagan administration on, the genius of Republican politics was to promise, re-promise, then promise again that the party and Jesus would soon relegate women's rights to history's dustbin. But at promises — full stop. The strategy was to keep hustling the holy ones to the polling booth, while suburban women, who vote, would retain their rights.
But Trump has never touched anything without contaminating and then destroying it. So too with his aggressive push to seat three Torquemadas on the Supreme Inquisitional Court. With that, Republicans' game was at an end. And now they wish to act as though nothing has happened except rises in gas prices.