Trav Robertson, Jr

Let’s be honest— Most Republicans were completely caught off guard by the Blue Wave that hit South Carolina. Many GOP candidates put very little effort into the general election. Most hadn’t faced real competitive general elections in years. The primaries were the game. Seeing the final numbers for the Congressional races, state house races, etc is staggering. National factors were driving this election, and the Graham race had outsized effect, but the absence of real campaigning down ballot also had major impact. That cannot happen again. The Party has to step up. Republicans must campaign in every district to push base turn out. The Dems recruited a candidate for every single state house seat! Republicans in heavy R districts did little, and candidates in blue districts were ignored or sidelined by the Party. (Note—numerous voters claim they received NO mailers or other campaign contact from any GOP campaigns except the top of the ticket). Party resources must be primarily allocated to general elections. Stop playing in primaries and let the voters decide. No more incumbent protection racket. Provide resources for ALL Republican candidates, not just favored ones. Earlier this year state Party resources were used to send attack ads against Freedom Caucus Republicans. Then in the general—nothing. Baffling and irresponsible! General election messaging shouldn’t sound exactly like the primary—it definitely didn’t for the Dems. The GOP must campaign to Independents. The Party should weigh in more on legislation BEFORE it’s passed—especially bad legislation that will come back to bite in the general. For example, the Legislature never should have voted to raise their own pay, hiked taxes on lower and middle income earners, refused to enact Trumps Big Beautiful bill cuts, passed a record-setting bloated budget, etc. Especially a general election year! The Republican Legislature wrote the Dem’s campaign ads for them, but the Party was silent. More bridge building must be done between the wings of the party. Not less debate or dialogue on issues or policy, but less fighting and ostracism. Relatedly, winning primary campaigns must put far more effort into courting former opponent’s supporters. SC Republicans need to get our act together and reverse course, before we go the way of Georgia. The time for constructive unity has come. And it must come from the top.

The scale of the Republican defeat is so great that it makes the race for the GOP presidential nomination wide open. If the administration had won a big victory, Vice President J D Vance would have had an enormous argument to be the inevitable nominee. Now, with this go-slow strategy blowing up in Iran and his defense of Vivek Ramaswamy's horrible, inhumane ad featuring his opponent's mother attacking her own daughter, a good bit of the luster has come off the bloom. The number of people who want to draft Secretary of State Marco Rubio is staggering. In addition, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Ron DeSantis, Pete Hegseth, Glenn Youngkin, and a surprising number of people may decide this is their chance to take advantage of the chaos of the shocking defeat and seek to be the champion who can rescue the party and the country.

GOP House member on ‘embarrassing’ South Carolina prospects: ‘Darline is dragging Rs’ thehill.com/homenews/campaig…

Trump: Barack Hussein Obama got into college for different reasons than you did. He's not a smart guy

OOPS GOP ad buyer mixes up Portlands, spends money meant to help Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Oregon The PAC boosting Collins is "absolutely furious" at the "ridiculous error" made by the buyer, which takes blame and has refunded the money. w/ @MrArenge: nbcnews.com/politics/2026-el…

NEW: According to @WalletHub, the states listed below are the 10 worst states for women. They are all run by GOP governors: - Louisiana - Oklahoma - Arkansas - Texas - Alabama - Wyoming - South Carolina - West Virginia - Mississippi - Idaho

Jermaine Johnson’s affordability plan boils down to one thing: “Tax the Rich.” While South Carolina families and businesses are feeling the squeeze, Johnson’s answer is simple: only the richest pay income taxes, increase government spending, and call it affordability. Families are paying more. Businesses are paying more. And Johnson’s solution? Tax the Rich. That approach has failed elsewhere. Why bring it to South Carolina?