In Tuesday’s Nevada Republican primary, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was the only candidate running — and she lost to nobody.
More than 47,000 Nevada Republicans took the time to show up at the polls and cast a ballot for “none of these candidates” rather than vote for her. Besides the obvious humiliation for Haley, the outcome is a fitting metaphor for the current state of the Republican Party.
The GOP has become the party of nothing: no ideas, no agenda, no accomplishments and no interest in governing the country. Even when given a choice between someone and no one, Republicans picked the latter.
Besides the obvious humiliation for Haley, the outcome is a fitting metaphor for the current state of the Republican Party.
That might seem like a harsh indictment, but consider what took place on Capitol Hill this week. After months of demanding tougher measures from the White House and Senate Democrats on border security in return for passing legislation providing funding to Ukraine, Republicans got what they asked for — and then rejected it.
Usually, when Democrats and Republicans negotiate on immigration issues, the Dems seek compromises on the legal status of undocumented immigrants, and the GOP demands tougher enforcement measures. This time, Dems would have gotten nothing: no help for Dreamers, no amnesty, no pathway to citizenship. They made historic and unprecedented concessions to the GOP, largely in return for creating a legislative pathway on military assistance to Ukraine.
The resulting legislation was one of the harshest immigration bills in recent memory. And yet, within hours of its release, congressional Republicans made clear they preferred nothing.
Republicans have complained about the border crisis — and President Joe Biden’s handling of it — for years. But when faced with the prospects of a bill that would help to solve the problem, the GOP opted to keep the complaint and shelve the solution. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who…
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