As America braces for a presidential re-match that no one wants, get ready to hear the term, “that’s just politics.” It could come from your liberal, Trump-hating aunt explaining her support for an 81-year-old incumbent facing questions about his age. Or the source could be your Fox News watching father-in-law justifying his vote for a twice-impeached challenger facing 91 criminal charges.
In each case, the phrase is used to excuse a bad choice.
In 2013, during my first few days as a state representative from conservative Forsyth County, I heard the term for the first time. Initially, it felt like aloe on a sunburn, the soothing answer to my rookie level questions. It didn’t matter if I was talking to a Republican or a Democrat, rural or urban, young or old. If pressed on hypocrisy wrapped around a policy or legislation, the ultimate justification inevitably was “That’s just politics.”
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Only a few weeks into my political tenure, a particularly egregious piece of legislation came flowing through our chamber. Senate Bill 24 was a Republican-backed idea creating enough smoke and mirrors to preserve a relatively new tax on hospitals. The goal was to preserve more than $450 million in federal funding for hospitals without forcing nervous lawmakers to cast a vote on the plan ahead of their own re-elections.
It was a bridge too far for me. I decided to wake up to my long list of campaign promises and stand up to my own party. Despite my best efforts, the bill passed 147-18, and I was promptly removed from the cool kids’ club.
Over the next decade, I watched some of the worst legislative and campaign ideas justified as, “that’s just politics.” Budgets slashed, bills gutted, vicious rumors spread, and endorsements disseminated all under the quiet guise of politics. The process was disingenuous but effective and Machiavellian.
The simmer escalated to a boil in 2020 when many Georgia Republicans embraced and enabled Donald Trump’s behavior. There was no limit to their lying: spreading unfounded conspiracy theories about missing ballots, broken voting machines and corrupt election workers. The scheme culminated in 16 Georgia Republicans serving as fake electors, falsely swearing that Trump the victor and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.
The goal was sending these false certifications to the National Archives with the hope of then-Vice President Mike Pence swapping them for the actual electoral votes – a plot endorsed by Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as recently as this month.
Many of the ringleaders face criminal indictment for their attempt to subvert democracy. Perhaps on the advice of counsel, they are more careful with their words now than their actions then. But if they were being honest, they would probably explain their conduct as “just politics.” Trump was the Republican president, and as loyal Republicans, it was their job to get him re-elected.
At the national level, Republicans lining up behind Trump in 2024 are supporting someone who added $8 trillion to the national debt, failed to build a border wall (let alone have Mexico pay for it) and outsourced many of his governing responsibilities to Dr. Anthony Fauci when COVID-19 struck. He stumbled his way into 91 indictments, ordered to pay $83.3 million dollars in a civil lawsuit involving rape allegations and referred to the disgraceful events of January 6, 2021 as a “beautiful day.”
In quiet corners, most Republicans explain their unwavering support for a morally bankrupt Trump with two quick answers: he’s not Biden and he’s going to be our nominee. In fact, many general election polls show him beating Biden. In other words, that’s just politics.
Democrats are not off the hook here, either. They are backing a man who abandoned our allies in Afghanistan, allowed migrant crossings at the southern border to reach record levels and oversaw inflation hitting 40-year highs amid binge government spending. All the while being shuffled around by his staff to hide his physical decline, whether it’s the shorter stairs down Air Force One or refusing to participate in a Super Bowl interview.
With enough truth serum or a couple cocktails, most rationale people would admit that neither Trump nor Biden should be in the discussion for any job, let alone leader of the free world. The challenges before our country far exceed the capability of either of the men vying to lead us.
So the next time you hear the phrase, “that’s just politics,” remember this was the mentality that got us into our current predicament. It won’t be easy nor will the political class change overnight, but it’s going to take a new approach from the rest of us to get on a different and better track.
A CNN contributor, Geoff Duncan served as Georgia’s lieutenant governor from 2019-2023. He is a former professional baseball player and the author of “GOP 2.0: How the 2020 Election Can Lead to a Better Way Forward for America’s Conservative Party.”
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