I suspect many Republicans will wake up Nov. 4 feeling like they still own 1,000 shares of Sears and Roebuck stock while their rivals bought Nvidia at $6. The world has passed them by, and happy days will never be here again.
I get it. Losing is never fun, but losing in politics, like winning at gambling, is temporary.
After all, only two years ago Democrats felt even worse than Republicans will this time around. Some of them were so distraught that they predicted the end of democracy. I suspect they’re the same people who are now looking gleefully ahead to Election Day.
So, fellow conservatives, take comfort in knowing that progressives are wrong even when they win.
That, however, doesn’t mean conservatives won’t need to do a lot of soul-searching
and reassessment after, barring a miracle, losing the House and perhaps the Senate.
Republicans deserve this impending blue wave
The truth is – and I’m sorry to say it – Republicans deserve to lose badly in this election. The solid mandate that voters gave the GOP in 2024 – with control of the presidency, the Senate and the House – has been largely squandered.
In his first year back in the White House, Donald Trump notched several impressive accomplishments. Illegal immigration has been squelched (at least until liberals regain the presidency). The economy overall remains resilient and growing at a steady rate.
America’s energy independence is a foundation of economic and strategic strength. NATO allies are finally starting to contribute more to their own defense. Progressives’ bullying tactics on college campuses, in corporate offices, and through news and entertainment sources have been cut back like dandelions in a rose garden.
Trump has clear wins he and the GOP can point to
Trump deserves credit for each of those victories in 2025.
But 2026 has been filled with one embarrassing misstep after another. And as Election Day approaches, the presidential balance sheet looks like a disaster.
The United States is locked in another frustrating war in the Middle East; the national debt has exploded to ridiculous amounts; our nation’s trade policy is incoherent; and our government’s approach to what may well be the most important economic driver of our time (artificial intelligence) is incomprehensible.
Worst of all, Trump appears even more petty and out of touch with every month that passes. In a time of global crisis and uncertainty, the United States is saddled with a commander in chief who can no longer inspire confidence even among many members of his supporters.
What conservatives need to do after Election Day
So where do conservatives go after the looming disaster of 2026? I have a few thoughts.
The first thing GOP leaders must do is tune out the echo chamber – Fox News and most other conservative media outlets, social media provocateurs who feast on outrage, and die-hard Trump loyalists who insist the president can do no wrong. The spin machine will try to shift blame away from Trump and his team after this thrashing. It’s imperative for Republicans not to listen to them.
An honest assessment of what went wrong requires admitting that the president and Republicans in Congress have made serious mistakes, including their failure to end the war with Iran and inability to finally put inflation back in its cage.
Republican leaders also must reckon with an even larger truth. Conservatives in the past decade have become much too comfortable with misinformation and disinformation dressed up as “alternative facts,” especially if Trump is the source. And there’s a tendency to write off factual information as “fake news” if it doesn’t conform to the preferred narrative.
I recently heard Trump insist once again that the war in Iran will end “very quickly.” I hope he’s right, but when I heard him speak, I thought of Joe Biden’s supporters blindly asserting in 2024 that the president was fit to serve another term, even as the truth was painfully obvious.
What we want to be true is often far different from what is true. Conservatives, of all people, should understand that, and we need to insist that our leaders understand it.
The party that stops insulting voters’ intelligence with promises we know will never be kept and with partisan propaganda masquerading as truth may well secure a lasting dominance because Americans are searching desperately for someone they can trust.
Like a sports team that leverages a losing season to undertake a successful rebuild, the GOP needs to see the impending election losses as an opportunity to reassert fundamental values, to vet policies that can take full advantage of the dawn of the AI age, and to develop leaders who have a compelling vision for what America could become instead of indulging in divisive cultural wars.
Losses are inevitable in politics. It’s how leaders pivot after a bad election cycle that ultimately matters the most.
Tim Swarens is a former deputy opinion editor for USA TODAY and former opinion editor of The Indianapolis Star.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I'm a conservative. Republicans deserve to lose. Badly | Opinion
