With the midterm elections on the horizon, President Biden’s approval rating remains historically low on every key issue, including the economy, pandemic response, foreign policy, and uniting the country. All indications point toward significant losses in both the House and Senate for the Democrats this year.

However, the Republican Party has to earn support and demonstrate that it is worthy of power instead of expecting it to be handed to them. With the multiple crises facing the nation, they need to be focused on delivering results. This is how Glenn Youngkin defeated Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia gubernatorial election in November. He chose to make the election about Virginians and kept former President Trump at bay during the campaign.

Former Vice President Mike Pence recently spoke about Trump at a conservative event in Florida with the Federalist Society. He rebuked the former president for claiming that he “didn’t have the courage to overturn the election in his favor.”

Pence said, "President Trump is wrong: I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president."

The conservative crowd erupted in applause for Pence, who is also a potential presidential candidate in 2024. Trump’s former Attorney General William Barr also recently rebuked Trump as “off the rails” in his new memoir detailing how the GOP needs to move forward from the former president.

One of Trump’s major flaws is that he expects unconditional loyalty. A leader must be willing to make compromises, especially within his own party, and be willing to accept criticism without lashing out in factually inaccurate tirades.

It is also unfortunate that the RNC has censured representatives Cheney and Kinzinger. It is a misstep that causes a distraction from focusing on effective campaigning for the upcoming midterm elections. The Republican party must present itself as a party of competent governance and conservative solutions, and censuring its own members for not falling in line with Trump does not advance that message.

Cheney and Kinzinger are two of the most conservative representatives, but they aren’t portrayed that way in the media because of the endless attacks they have endured from Trump loyalists. This is exactly the kind of division and infighting that Chris Christie warned about in his recent book.

Despite the sharp division between the Trump faction and traditional faction of the Republican Party, Democrats are facing a bloodbath in this year’s midterm elections. The constant conflict between moderates and progressives has led to a lack of vision for a unifying message for the country. The polling for the upcoming midterm elections has been exceptionally favorable for the GOP. This trend towards the Republican party started in August after the administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Since then, crisis after crisis has been continually hurting the political prospects of Biden and Democrats nationwide.