Ross Douthat doesn’t exactly downplay January 6, but he certainly doesn’t want us to overreact. To him, the riot was just a typical half-baked man on golf cart action that had little public support and was easily thwarted by responsible officials from both parties. If push comes to shove in 2024, they will be responsible again. Trust us, and have faith in the system.
Douthat sounds a bit like the Wizard of Oz at times. Forget the fact that Trump still has the strong support of GOP legislators and voters even after the riot. Ignore the purges of anyone who dares to speak against him in public. Disregard the polls that show that GOP voters overwhelmingly view Biden as an illegitimate president, and think the system needs to be blown up to save “Real America.” Pay no attention to the right-wing pundits who openly regard Biden voters as something other than real Americans. Don’t look at all of the right-wing nuts with guns, and forget January 6 and all of the vote suppression legislation that is being rammed through GOP legislatures. All that is a distraction. Believe me when I tell you that the GOP isn’t really a counterrevolutionary party, in spite of all of the noise, and that everything will be fine as long as the left doesn’t do anything to provoke reactionaries even further.
The fact is that conditions have changed for the worse since January 6. Before then, there was no orthodox position within the GOP opposing the legitimacy of the election; today, there is. Every GOP officeholder with authority over elections is going to be subjected to enormous pressure to take any steps necessary to prevent a Democratic victory in 2024. Under those circumstances, it is reasonable to assume they will suck it up and do their duty regardless of their self-interest? I think not.