EDITORIAL: McConnell, Pence point the way forward for GOP

As the Gulf War came to a close in early 1991, President George H.W. Bush enjoyed an approval rating pushing 90 percent. The conventional wisdom insisted he was a lock for a second term. Many potential Democratic presidential candidates weren’t eager to be buried in a landslide.

Twenty months later, Democrat Bill Clinton won the White House.

As Mr. Bush and the GOP learned three decades ago, the winds of politics can shift with dangerous speed. Even a few months, as the cliche goes, is an eternity in politics. President Joe Biden has endured a rough year in the Oval Office and his approval rating has spiraled downward since August. Republicans appear primed to make gains in the midterm elections this November.

But to maximize the opportunity, the GOP must present a credible alternative to the toxic woke collectivism dominating the Democratic Party. That will require offering voters a hopeful vision for the nation’s future, not dwelling on perceived electoral grievances of the past. Unfortunately, too many Republicans — including in Nevada — seem wedded to the latter strategy.

Last week, former Vice President Mike Pence made his strongest statement yet about the events that led to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Mr. Pence said former President Donald Trump was “wrong” when he claimed that his vice president had the power to block the congressional certification of the 2020 election results, calling the notion “un-American.” Speaking at a Federalist Society event, Mr. Pence said, “I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone.”

Mr. Pence is correct, of course. He deserves credit for his commitment to our constitutional principles and for having the courage to stop indulging Mr. Trump.

The same can be said of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who this week criticized the Republican National Committee for sanctioning two GOP House members on the Jan. 6 committee. “That’s not the job of the RNC,” he said.

Indeed, Republicans don’t need authoritarian “loyalty” tests or to demand absolute adherence to various party orthodoxy, particularly about the Jan. 6 fiasco. It is inevitable that Democrats will seek to revisit those unfortunate events time and again leading to the election. The GOP response should acknowledge the riot was unacceptable, a stain on the Trump presidency and that those who broke the law that day deserve their fate.

As the Biden administration flails aimlessly, Republicans have an opportunity on the horizon. But if they fail to heed the sober voices of Mr. McConnell, Mr. Pence and a growing number of other GOP leaders, and instead opt to stare out the back window complaining about “stolen” elections, they might find the political tail winds have turned into a headlong gale.