On Sunday’s CNN Newsroom, host Fredricka Whitfield brought on Allan Lichtman, a left-wing history professor from American University to smear the Republican Party as being “out of step” and suggesting the GOP is on the verge of extinction by saying “this may be their last chance to revamp the party.” After the disappointing electoral performance Republicans had on Tuesday, there has been talk of Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis running in 2024 because of his landslide reelection victory. Lichtman made sure to shoot down the idea of Ron DeSantis being a more appealing alternative to former President Donald Trump.
Whitfield asked Lichtman if he thinks Republicans “have to acknowledge this is a moment of correction,” and to “return to some of those pillars of the Republican Party, and if they don't, then like you said, they are looking at the demise of the party as once they knew it.”
Lichtman demanded that Republicans “must do that,” and claimed the GOP “had an opportunity after 2018 when they suffered grievous losses. They had an opportunity after 2020 when their incumbent President lost. They did not seize either of those opportunities.”
“This may be their last chance to revamp the party to adapt to where the American people really are,” he added.
He then lectured Republicans not to “expect Ron DeSantis to come riding in on a white horse and save the Republican Party. It's not clear he represents anything different than Donald Trump other than a different personality.”
Lichtman proclaimed that “governors, however successful, have not fared well under the unique white heat of a presidential campaign,” to prove his argument he said “look at Bush and Kasich in 2016.”
Not sure those are the best candidates to use as an example considering both Bush and Kasich were disastrously bad and uninspiring candidates because of their personalities and liberal Republican records in office, not the fact that they were governors.
Not to mention how most recent Presidents were governors: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter. They all managed to get elected being governors.
Getting in one last shot at DeSantis, he huffed “it's not clear that DeSantis offers the reconsideration and restoration that this Republican Party really needs.”
This is basically an in-kind contribution to a potential DeSantis presidential campaign were he to run. Having smug leftists on CNN attack you always plays well in GOP primaries.
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To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
CNN Newsroom
11/13/2022
11:09:38 a.m. EasternFREDRICKA WHITFIELD: Do you see this now as Republicans perhaps facing that they have to acknowledge this is a moment of correction? This is an opportunity now, this point forward to return to some of those pillars of the Republican Party, and if they don't, then like you said, they are looking at the demise of the party as once they knew it. But while many of those Trump picks made it through the primary, ultimately they didn't make it all the way through. So how do you see the GOP making that acknowledgment or using this as an opportunity for a correction?
ALLAN LICHTMAN (HISTORY PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY): They must do that. They had an opportunity after 2018 when they suffered grievous losses. They had an opportunity after 2020 when their incumbent President lost. They did not seize either of those opportunities. This may be their last chance to revamp the party to adapt to where the American people really are.
Look, even the House, the Republicans would not have taken the House if not for the extreme gerrymandering in places like Florida and Texas. They're really out of step. And don't expect Ron DeSantis to come riding in on a white horse and save the Republican Party. It's not clear he represents anything different than Donald Trump other than a different personality. And governors, however successful, have not fared well under the unique white heat of a presidential campaign. Look at Bush and Kasich in 2016.
Look at Inslee on the Democratic side or earlier Howard Dean. You don't know how a candidate is going to fare when they face a presidential campaign, and it's not clear that DeSantis offers the reconsideration and restoration that this Republican Party really needs.
