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The direction of the past several elections should concern Republicans. Instead, too many ignore what voters are telling them and convince themselves that Democrats have figured out how to conduct massive fraud, except in Florida and perhaps New York.

Ironically, Florida is where many Democrats believe Republicans stole the 2000 presidential election. New York, one of the most liberal states in the union, prevented Democrats from holding on to their House majority in the 2022 midterms, an election that by every metric should have been a GOP romp.

Democrats ran on two issues in 2022: The primary issue was abortion. Rarely has one event motivated voters like the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade energized votes for Democrats. Trumps refusal to concede the 2020 election and efforts to overturn the results galvanized other independent voters who feared candidates labeled election deniers imperiled democracy.

Election results in early 2023 suggest that these issues remain salient with voters.

Getting indicted may help Donald Trump win the Republican nomination. Its drowned out all other information and focused every spotlight on him. Hes making the 2024 election about him and his grievances.

The Republican Party would be wisest to nominate somebody else with Trumps 2016 themes but without Trumps 2023 baggage. I know too many Trumpers who arent ready to let go yet. However, they must face reality and stop telling one another that massive cheating is why they lost and continue to lose.

Its this simple: Biden won, Trump lost, and not because of cheating. Eight well-known Trump-supporting Republicans wrote a report called Lost, Not Stolen.

Its a must-read for anybody who still believes Donald Trump won the election. The group reviews all 64 legal challenges by Trumps legal team.

Out of 64 lawsuits, Trumps lawyers withdrew from fourteen cases. Federal judges dismissed 47more, including eight judges appointed by Trump.

Trumps lawyers won a total of three motions, all in Pennsylvania, which threw out 270 provisional ballots lacking signatures, separated Election Day provisional ballots, and moved back the states deadline for absentee voters to present voter ID by three days, but hardly changed the outcome.

The Supreme Court declined to hear Trumps cases twice.

Georgia conducted two statewide recounts that narrowed Bidens lead from 14,196 to 12,284 and finally to 11,779 something Trump-haters must bear in mind in the legal matter regarding the phone call they want him imprisoned over.

In Wisconsin, two partial recounts of the states results added 74 votes to Bidens lead.

Trumps team didnt prove fraud in any of the 64 cases, with 87 different judges and two attempts to go to the Supreme Court. Documents emerging because of the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit demonstrate that even the Fox News Channel anchors knew they were putting guests on the air who were insane or whose conspiracy theories were lies. Despite all this, many still believe it when Trump continues to say Democrats stole the 2020 election.

Cheating on a mass scale didnt happen, but the rules did change. Trump may have sealed his fate when he told his voters not to vote by mail. By Election Day, Democrats had legally run up the count by enough that perhaps Trump never had a chance to win.

In sports, rules change from season to season. The teams that win adapt to the new regulations first. Losers hold on to old traditions. Democrats adjusted to mail-in voting better than Republicans, just as they did to the internet in its infancy.

The 2022 midterms are replaying in 2023.

In Chicago, incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot didnt survive the elections first round, but the end result is arguably worse. After a five-week battle between former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson won.

CNN Political Commentator, former Obama chief campaign strategist, and senior presidential advisor David Axelrod called it candidate of the Chicago Teachers Union vs. the Fraternal Order of Police, and the teachers union won.

Vallas ran a campaign around Chicagos utter breakdown of law and order and promised to fill the 1,700 police vacancies.

Johnson ran on a pledge of $800 million in new and increased taxes and $1 billion in new spending. His position on the police changed over time, but initially, he said he would cut $150 million from the departments nearly $2 billion budget. He wouldnt commit to filling the open positions either.

Why does a city as crime-ridden as Chicago boots Lori Lightfoot only to replace her with an even more liberal and anti-cop mayor?

On the same day, Wisconsin voters sent another pro-choice message to Republicans by giving control of the States Supreme Court to the liberal faction for the first time in fifteen years.

The election was between Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge, and Dan Kelly, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice. Then-Governor Scott Walker appointed Kelly to the state Supreme Court in 2016. However, in 2020 he lost to a liberal opponent in his first attempt to win a full 10-year term.

TV ads hammered Kelly for his paid work advising Republicans on legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the alternate elector plan.

The primary issue, however, was abortion. Wisconsin has a restrictive abortion law dating to 1849. It bans abortion in nearly all circumstances and could come before the state Supreme Court anytime.

Protasiewicz said she supported abortion rights. Prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, and abortion rights groups like Emilys List endorsed her.

Kelly previously worked for Wisconsin Right to Life, and pro-life groups supported him.

While neither candidate would specifically say how they would rule on a hypothetical abortion case, each stated how the other would rule. Voters understood their options and the likely impact.

The race became the most expensive state Supreme Court contest in U.S. history. According to OpenSecrets.org, the independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit research group that tracks money in U.S. politics, spending on the election surpassed $45 million, three times the prior record for a state Supreme Court race ($15 million).

The youth vote has been discounted for ages because it failed to materialize on Election Day. Whether its because of mail-in voting or their passion for issues, Millennials (born 1981 1996) and Gen Z (1997 forward and now up to 25 years old) are voting in record numbers.

For example, in the Wisconsin state Supreme Court election, there were approximately 7,000 more total votes in Dane County (Madison and the University of Wisconsin Population 568,203) than in Milwaukee County (the City of Milwaukee and its suburbs Population 918,661).

Abortion is one of the issues driving the youth voting trend.

A 2022 Pew Research Center poll shows that 61 percent of all Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The figure rises to 74 percent among 18- to 29-year-olds. It drops to 55 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds and 54 percent among those over 65.

The Gallup Poll shows similar trends, as does virtually every other public opinion poll.

These trends will only get worse for Republicans.

With new perspectives gained from the Covid vaccine controversies, conservatives should better understand my body, my choice. Fighting to ban abortion will cause the GOP to lose elections and the ability to impact other issues.

Throughout history, bans have never stopped people from doing what they are determined to do. I dont believe Republicans can successfully ban abortions anymore, probably than I think Democrats can ban semi-automatic weapons.

I understand many people believe abortion is murder. Its a deeply personal view, sometimes rooted in religion. Its also becoming a minority issue. Republicans should not be the minority party.

The trends are clear. For Trump voters who believe Democrats stole the 2020 elections, more disappointment lies ahead. They need to wake up and move forward instead of trying to settle perceived past grievances thats a sure way to continue losing. There is no future in pursuing losses based on cheating. You might as well give up.

Continuing to try and ban abortions almost entirely ensures a future as a minority party. The demographics make that unavoidable. The Party has adjusted to the racial make-up of the country. Even as Democrats call conservatives racists, the Republican Party continues to attract more minorities. Playing the race card is wearing thinner and thinner with each fraudulent usage.

Finally, the game has changed, so Republicans must change how they play. Mail voting is here to stay. Republicans must get better at it than Democrats.

Paraphrasing Charles Darwin, Its not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change. Will we permit Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi to be the adaptable ones and allow conservatism to become obsolete and irrelevant, or will we embrace change and learn to adapt?

Andy Bloom is president of Andy Bloom Communications. He specializes in media training and political communications. He has programmed legendary stations including WIP, WPHT and WYSP/Philadelphia, KLSX, Los Angeles and WCCO Minneapolis. He was Vice President Programming for Emmis International, Greater Media Inc. and Coleman Research. Andy also served as communications director for Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio). He can be reached by email at andy@andybloom.com or you can follow him on Twitter @AndyBloomCom.

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Andy Bloom: Election trends portend ominous forecast for Republicans - Broad + Liberty