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The era of Donald Trump has brought a great many changes to the political world since 2016, and the year 2023 will be no different – the dynasties of Bush, Cheney, McCain, and Clinton will hold no quarter in either statewide or national office.
With the defeat of Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Republican congressional primary on Tuesday, the franchise dynasties that have dominated the U.S. political landscape going all the way back to the 1970s came to a crashing halt.
Whether or not the Republican Party takes control of Congress in November’s mid-term election, come January 23, there will be no politician by name of Bush, Cheney, McCain, or Clinton in the halls of Congress, the White House, or even on the state level.
In Texas, for instance, George P. Bush, despite his best efforts to court the Trump vote, will end his term as the state land commissioner, effectively ending the Bush dynasty until it strikes a political comeback.
In decades past, there were few political dynasties in Texas as unstoppable as the Bush family name with a solid legacy stretching all the way back to the 1960s. In the age of Trump, the name’s staying power has definitely waned, and George P. Bush became the latest casualty earlier this year when he lost to Ken Paxton in the Texas Attorney General race. As the Texas Tribune noted back in May:
His ubiquitous name recognition is emerging as a liability in the Republican party. George P. Bush, who currently serves as the state’s land commissioner, is trailing Paxton in polls. Some of the top reasons Republican voters are reluctant about him are his ties to his family’s center-right political leanings and his own past policy positions.
Bush said those attacks are led by Paxton and don’t reflect the support he has seen on the campaign trail. The sitting attorney general’s ads against Bush focus on labeling him a RINO — Republican in name only — and linking him to his famous family.
George P. Bush made every effort he could to court Trump’s favor, endorsing him both times for president and enthusiastically seeking his support until the former president endorsed Ken Paxton straight out the gate.
