Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

DAVE BOSSIE: Trump Needs More Conservative Change Agents In Senate

Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Political observers know how difficult it’s been to elect true, steel-spined conservatives to the United States Senate. Even though there’s been some success starting with the Tea Party movement in 2010, reinforcements since then – with a handful of exceptions – have been few and far between.  That’s why when an opportunity to dramatically upgrade a precious Senate seat with a rock-solid America first change agent presents itself, failure isn’t an option.

President Donald Trump needs like-minded America first stalwarts in the U.S. Senate; a new generation of leaders who are willing to cut spending to deal with our $38 trillion debt and enact long overdue election integrity and census reforms.  The president’s powerful endorsement of conservative superstar Rep. Julia Letlow of Louisiana in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Louisiana over RINO incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy is both a game changer and a clear signal to other GOP candidates still in the race.

In a ruby red state, earning Trump’s support is all-important, particularly now that Louisiana has made the jump to a closed primary system. Not only did Trump carry Louisiana overwhelmingly in three straight elections, recent polling indicates that an incredible 88 percent of Republican primary voters in the Pelican State have a favorable opinion of him.  There’s no two ways about it, ignoring data like this would amount to political malpractice for other contenders for the seat.

With Trump’s full-throated endorsement of Letlow, the remaining Republican candidates in the race should clear the field so Letlow can focus solely on defeating Cassidy, which is the mission at hand. While the field of Republican challengers in the contest are all patriotic Americans, it’s time to read the writing on the wall and follow the lead of State Representative Julie Emerson who exited the race due to the political reality of the situation.

Emerson was right when she said, “With Congresswoman Letlow’s entrance into the race, the path to victory that was viable a couple of months ago has diminished…I support President Trump and respect his decision to endorse Julia Letlow to defeat Bill Cassidy.”  Emerson is spot on in her analysis.  In a head-to-head match-up, Letlow will bury Cassidy by a wide margin and finally give Louisianans what they want – another reform-minded and conservative Trump-supporting United States Senator.

The bottom line is that folks in Louisiana deserve two senators in Washington who are both working with Trump to make America great again 100 percent of the time. Cassidy’s election year pandering to MAGA and conservatives in Louisiana is disingenuous to put it mildly.  It makes no sense for Louisiana to have a senator like Cassidy – for yet another six-year term – who only plays nice with Trump when he’s in cycle and facing the voters.

Cassidy’s vote to impeach Trump in 2021 without any evidence or due process remains fresh in people’s memories.  That infamous vote spoke volumes about Cassidy’s lack of loyalty and political courage; his knee jerk reaction to abandon Trump in short order was simply jaw dropping. Throughout his tenure in the Senate, Bill Cassidy has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the failed D.C. establishment’s go-to guys, and he was all too happy to pick up that mantle along with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Congresswoman Liz Cheney during the second phony Trump impeachment fiasco.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Even in the midst of a tough primary contest, Cassidy rushed to criticize Immigrations and Customs Enforcement over the heated situation in Minnesota instead of pinning the blame on former President Joe Biden’s decision to green light an illegal immigrant invasion of America. Cassidy simply can’t help himself, because after all, he isn’t actually a conservative. In fact, he probably longs for the days when the Republican Party was losing elections with Mitt Romney and John McCain playing nice with the left.

By contrast, Letlow will stand tall for our president, strong borders, law and order, and enforcing the laws on the books every time, not just when it’s politically convenient. Trump needs as many conservative change agents in the U.S. Senate as possible because far too many sitting Senators still haven’t gotten the memo about saving America. It requires guts, common sense, and the ability to take incredibly tough votes to confront the uni-party’s failed mindset and change our trajectory before it’s too late. Letlow will come down on the right side of the ledger every time.

To the other Republican candidates in the race, Trump needs team players at this critical juncture in history and that means doing the right thing by clearing the field to help him defeat Cassidy with his enthusiastically endorsed candidate Julia Letlow.

David Bossie is the president of Citizens United and served as a senior adviser to the Trump-Pence 2020 campaign. In 2016, Bossie served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President and deputy executive director for the Trump-Pence Transition Team.

 The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr)