Local Republican Boss Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

John Micek on Feb 19, 2021

As if that were not enough, the top-ranking Republican in Pennsylvania’s state Senate took to Twitter to denounce what he said was the creeping radicalism among his Democratic colleagues.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman has enough problems with the radicals in his own caucus, one of whom pushed false claims of voter fraud, attended the Trump rally before the riots, and bused his supporters down to Washington last month.

Corman also got called out by fact-checkers for saying that false election claims didn’t play “any role” in the deadly attack on the Capitol.

As of this writing, more than 12,000 Pennsylvania Republicans have deserted the GOP, according to a tally by the New York Times.

The GOP is in the midst of an identity crisis so severe that it could well end up ripping the party apart. The consequences of such a schism would be especially severe in Pennsylvania, which remains a must-win for Republicans if they hope to retake the Senate next year, and the White House beyond that.

Democrats, meanwhile, must be relishing the prospect of a GOP implosion, and are reminding themselves of that old political adage that, when your opponent is self-destructing, you get out of the way and let them.

The fuse has been lit.

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An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek.