Definitely Not A Cop said:
I think GOP does pretty well at the state level and below. However, with federal elections (particularly in swing states), the leadership has outdated strategies and still believe they can win like it is 2016. They have given up gains in 3 straight elections since then due to this.
That being said, there are states that could definitely benefit from stronger leadership assistance at the national level to help with state elections and below (Arizona comes to mind).
Trump is completely in charge of the party now, there is nobody left to throw under the bus in regards to this. Though I'm sure he will try and some people will parrot it as if it's the truth.
I agree with you. For statewide elections in swing states, the GOP leadership has outdated strategies that has costed them in multiple elections. Since 2010, the Republican leadership has been caving into the Tea Party movement and Donald Trump's rise to the White House in 2016. As a result, the GOP has catered primarily to the radical right and alienated many moderate voters, especially in swing states.
I hope Donald Trump and JD Vance win the Presidential Election, but I won't be surprised if they lose to the most radical left ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz. If that happens, it's a sign that that the GOP needs to move on from Trump. In 2022, the Trump backed Senate candidates did not win any of the battleground states in 2022, costing us control of the Senate. High-profile losses included battleground states that were key to Republicans' effort to flip the Senate, including Herschel Walker's loss in Georgia, Blake Masters' loss in Arizona, Adam Laxalt's loss in Nevada, and Mehmet Oz's loss in Pennsylvania. If GOP primary voters had already learned to vote for the most electable candidates, the GOP would have gained control of the Senate and a larger House majority in 2022.
Glenn Youngkin, Ron DeSantis, Sarah Huckabee, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, and Tim Scott would be much more electable than Trump in 2028. I hope GOP primary voters vote for the candidate, who has the best chance of defeating Harris. I can't fathom two terms of a Harris-Waltz administration.