Last week, a new campaign ad for Kay Ivey encapsulated the problem faced by the Republican Party. The Alabama governor ranted about fake news and stolen elections in a political ad that could be taken from the comments of a social media post or a Tucker Carlson monologue.
The white-haired executive, who resembles a grandmother from central casting, says in the ad, “The fake news, Big Tech, and blue-state liberals stole the election from President Trump, but here in Alabama, we are making sure that never happens. We have not, and will not, send absentee ballots to everyone and their brother. We banned corrupt curbside voting, and our results will always be audited. I’m Kay Ivey. The left is probably offended – so be it. As long as I’m governor, we’re going to protect your vote.”
Of course, if you followed the investigations of alleged election fraud, you know that Donald Trump and his lawyers were never able to present evidence in court to back up his claims that the election was stolen despite repeated warnings that they were about to “unleash the Kraken.”
So why is Kay Ivey running an ad about stolen elections?
She’s running for re-election and even though Ivey has a commanding lead in the Republican primary, she obviously feels the need to protect her right flank from challengers. In Alabama, the winner of the Republican primary is the de facto winner of the general election as well. Alabama hasn’t had a Democratic governor since Don Siegelman left office in 2003.
As it turns out, Ivey’s ad follows an attack from challenger Lindy Blanchard, a self-described “Trump Republican,” who charged that “Kay Ivey thinks Biden’s victory was legitimate.” In other words, the accusation that the governor believes the truth about the 2020 election is political poison in Alabama’s GOP primary.
But it isn’t only the Republican base that is to blame. For the past year and a half, Republican leaders have been afraid to tell their constituents the truth about the election. For longer than that, they’ve been afraid to tell voters the truth about Trump.
The voters may be putting pressure on Kay Ivey, but she has final responsibility for joining in the Big Lie that “The fake news, Big Tech, and blue-state liberals stole the election from President Trump.”
The Republican problem is two-fold. Voters are being misled by the MAGA pundit class and elected officials are too spineless to tell them the truth. The irony is many of these people are Christians yet they are knowingly propagating a lie for partisan benefit. (Several different lies actually.)
To the extent that traditional conservative principles still exist in the GOP, the party does have something positive to offer, but the good ideas that Republicans have are tucked into a sandwich of voters that are caught up in conspiracy beliefs and officeholders that are afraid to cross them.