MANSFIELD, Texas – Adam Kinzinger arrived in Texas this week to hunt unicorns.
The Illinois congressman looking for Republicans who, like him, see former President Donald Trump as a scourge to his party and a risk to democracy. Kinzinger met privately with a sympathetic Republican, former President George W. And the second, he had lunch with Michael Wood, the only brazenly anti-Trump Republican who competed Saturday in a busy special election for a seat in Congress.
Kinzinger, a 43-year-old Air Force pilot who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is positioning himself as one of Trump’s main antagonists in a party that largely refuses to leave the former president. All House Republicans who voted to accuse Trump of inciting the fatal January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. But it’s not the first time And while Kinzinger himself is contemplating a possible candidacy for a higher office, he came to Texas to see how many other Republicans percent of his prospects.
Kinzinger’s hope lies in Wood, a veteran of fresh-faced fighting, who is struggling to excel in a 23-man field.
“The Trump thing has no place there yet. It is not unfolding,” Kinzinger said at his lunch with Wood on Fork in the Road in suburban Dallas. “But the Republican Party took a long time to become what it is today. It may take a long time to bring it back. “
The feud to upgrade Republican Ron Wright, who died of COVID-19 in February, went virtually unnoticed on the outskirts of this North Texas district, but gives a window to forces that are tearing apart the fabric of today’s Republican Party. among the 23 applicants on the ballot, and with the exception of Wood, everyone is desperate to win over Trump and his supporters.
Republican Brian Harrison, former staff leader of the Decomposant of Health and Human Services, played his role in the Trump administration, as did Sery Kim, who worked in the Small Business Administration and directly implored Trump for his approval for an appearance. at Newsmax, where he gave his phone number. Dan Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, expressed Trump’s approval last year in a failed race for a seat in Congress in Nevada. His new slogan: “Make America Texas Again”.
Trump waited until days before Election Day to give formal approval to congresswoman Susan Wright’s widow, who is widely recognized as a favorite.
Trump’s team scoffed at Wood and Kinzinger’s broader ambitions.
In his crusade to reject trumpism, the Illinois congressman is overtaken in all measurable measures. Polls recommend that up to 8 out of 10 Republicans continue with Trump. And while Kinzinger’s political team celebrated raising $2. 2 million last quarter, Trump’s political operation depends on at least $85 million.
When asked about Kinzinger, Trump spokesman Jason Miller brazen him as “a long-term MSNBC contributor. “
However, Wood also attracted monetary and ethical aspects from a handful of other Trump critics in Congress, adding Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican; David Valadao, Republican for California; and Peter Meijer, Republican for Michigan. Like Kinzinger, all three voted to charge Trump.
Kinzinger said he was attracted to Wood through the political courage of the 34-year-old former Marine officer. Wood was sometimes booed from the Republican crusade for saying that the Republican Party had a “personality cult. “The electoral documentation he provides to voters states: “The Republican Party has lost its way. . . “
In an interview, Wood, who won two Purple Hearts for his service in Afghanistan and now runs a small business, compared Trump to a “less intelligent, lazy and disorganized” autocrat like Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. He warned that freedom itself is in peligro. si Trump and what he defended were not firmly rejected.
“I don’t need to go to Congress if I have to lick Donald Trump’s boots to get there,” he said.
However, Kinzinger knows more than anyone how complicated it will be to convince the Republican electorate anywhere, not to mention Texas, to oppose Trump. The congressman’s political operation recently commissioned a vote that revealed that the top sympathetic electorate is what an assistant called unicorns”: Republicans who are politically moderate, do not see Fox News, reject conspiracy theories, and have a great upbringing.
It is an electorate group that Kinzinger wants to build if his efforts succeed in Texas and beyond while contemplating a competitive role in mid-2022.
Wood estimated that this electorate could make up up to 35% of those who took part in Saturday’s special elections. Sympathetic strategists recommend that the number be probably much smaller.
I mean, there are no precautionary symptoms for Trump and his supporters.
Trump won the District of North Texas double-digits in 2016, but through 3 issues last fall, reflecting the tendency of Texas’ burgeoning suburbs to switch to purple and, in some places, absolute blue.
But outdoors at the Mansfield Municipal Courthouse this week, there were few symptoms of Wood among Republicans who lined up to vote early. One of them said Wood was betraying his country; others called it a disgrace.
“There’s no Republican against Trump, I’ll find another party,” said Gordon Powell, a 71-year-old white retiree from Mansfield. “I doubt he can run as a Republican for the dog hunter and get elected here. “
Yvette Williams, a 54-year-old African-American transplant woman from California, said she would accept Wood if she didn’t vote for a Democrat, but applauded her efforts.
“I’m thinking, “Who in the Republican Party can stand up to Trump?”It takes one to make a difference,” he said.
Meanwhile, 10 Democrats run in special elections, but after high expectations and big spending failed to produce a significant singles victory last year, the national party is moving away from the race.
And while many Central Republicans in Texas stand firm against Trump, Kinzinger has earned the respect of one of Texas’ most prominent Republican leaders.
Kinzinger and his wife met privately with former President Bush and former first girl Laura Bush for about an hour Monday night at Bush’s workplace at Southern Methodist University. Kinzinger said he talked about foreign policy, evangelical Christian for Trump, and shared considerations about party leadership.
“Obviously, as he said, he’s involved in where we are and he knows it’s a complicated task to bring him back,” Kinzinger said of Bush. “But it’s like you’re not fighting, it’s done. “
A Bush spokesman declined to comment on the meeting.
Meanwhile, Wood said it’s time for more people in his party’s leadership to publicly confront Trump.
“I hope that, win or lose, it will prove to at least the rest of the country that there are other people willing to stand up and say those things. Frankly, I’m a little disappointed that someone like me is saying it. shouted from the ceiling through House leaders, Republicans in the Senate, Republicans across the country.
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