Can you remember when Republicans called themselves the “Party of Ideas”? That started back in the 1970s, I believe, and fizzled out sometimes in the 1990s. I found a Boston Review article from 2020 that discusses the “Party of Ideas” phenomenon and also reminds us that “many of the GOP’s celebrated ‘new ideas’ of the 1970s and ’80s were not novel but standard elements of a previously unpopular, anti–New Deal ideology then in the process of becoming dominant.”

I’m not sure Republicans have had an actual “new idea” since Calvin Coolidge, if then. They’ve still got cutting taxes on great wealth and kicking as many people as possible off of health benefits and food aid. Those ideas clearly are very important to Republicans. But I understand they aren’t running on those ideas all that much, for some reason.

Regarding health care, this NPR article reminds us that the GOP attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in Trump’s first term is a big reason the Dems picked up 41 seats in the House in the 2018 midterms. In this term, millions of people who had health insurance policies through the ACA have had to give him up, or cut back to policies with less coverage, and they are not happy. And it’s going to get worse next year.

If you think back to past election years when a Republican was in the White House, I’m sure you remember the way Republican politicians, state and federal, all appeared to be singing from the same hymnal. The Bush II White House was a messaging machine. Dubya or Dick the Dick would drop some talking points and soon those talking points would be everywhere, endlessly repeated. But the Trump White House isn’t giving Republican politicians much to work with these days. The war? All the data centers Trump wants built? How about the ballroom? And I hear there are Indy car races going on in Washington, D.C. this weekend. Lots going on, but not much a Republican would want to put in a campaign ad.

So what are Republicans running on? Since I don’t watch Fox News and am not seeing many Republican campaign ads on television, I really had no idea. But after cruising around the web looking for clues, I came up with two big issues that Republicans are exploiting for all they are worth. And these are Islamophobia and the WNBA.

You may scoff at the WNBA, but if you listened to some Republicans you’d think no one born with a uterus is allowed on a professional women’s basketball team any more.  And Republicans are ready to march in the streets about it. In fact, there are no trans women playing in the WNBA, and there never have been, unless you count Layshia Clarendon, who was born female but identifies as “non-binary.” Really, the players are women. They play basketball. that’s it. But Republicans are concerned, and not just about transgenderism. They think the Black women players are too rough on the White women players. I’m serous.

Do read What’s Happening to the WNBA Isn’t Normal by Jemele Hill at The Atlantic. Here’s just a bit:

In early July, a group of 11 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA’s commissioner, demanding that she be held accountable for not adequately addressing “repeated acts of unnecessary physical hostility and violence” on the court against the Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who has emerged as one of the league’s most popular players. The letter also suggested that these acts may be “racially motivated” against Clark, who is white, and called for the Department of Justice to investigate. And right before the All-Star Game, Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham told ESPN, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” which immediately became a massive talking point around and outside the league. Shortly thereafter, multiple rallies sprang up in support of Cunningham; Celeste Keaton, a co-owner of the Seattle Storm, was suspended after verbally confronting a pair of teenage fans during a game who were holding signs supporting Cunningham.

So all their concerns kind of mush together. Then a bit later in the article —

The heated environment can be seen as part of a larger outcry. The league is about 70 percent Black, and anywhere from 25 to 35 percent queer; historically, its players have embraced progressive issues. In 2016, the Minnesota Lynx wore T-shirts calling for justice and accountability following the police-related deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. A few years later, Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, a Republican, wrote a letter to Engelbert criticizing the league’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In response, players backed Raphael Warnock, who eventually won the seat from Loeffler in the 2020 election.

This history has made the WNBA low-hanging fruit for MAGA figures, whether politicians or commentators, who use it to score cheap points with their base. Critics lacking a serious investment in women’s basketball can conveniently swoop in to recite their spiel, and pay no attention to the sport itself. 

It’s gotten so nuts that when DiJonai Carrington of the Chicago Sky fouled Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever, the attorney general of Florida (the game was not played in Florida) announced the incident ought to be investigated, and if the game had been in Florida he’d be charging people with assault. Carrington is Black; Cunningham is White. The Atlantic article also says that Black WNBA players have received death threats after fouling White players. See also Why the Right Is Going All-in on Stoking the WNBA Culture Wars at Talking Points Memo.

Regarding Islamophobia, for now I’m just going to post some links. I may return to this issue as the general election gets closer, though.

From ‘terror threat’ to ‘civilizational threat,’ top Republicans escalate anti-Muslim rhetoric by Jack Jenkins and Ulaa Kuziez, Religion News Service

Islamophobia’s Rise in Texas: ‘I Won’t Rest Until Every Muslim Is Gone’ by multiple reporters at The New York Times.

The smear campaign against Abdul El-Sayed is built on lies, Islamophobia and hate by Steve Neavling at the Detroit Metro Times

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott takes aim at Muslim washing stations in airports by Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post.