Unfortunately for Schmidt and Rubin, both of whom perfected the art of playing token Republicans who detest the Republican Party right around the 2016 election, their dominance in this niche field is being challenged by a growing number of GOP “insiders” who are looking to cash in on the demand for anti-Republican commentary from Republican “experts.”
There is Republican strategist Ana Navarro-Cardenas, who “strategized on behalf of no campaign that anyone could recall,” as Politico’s Tim Alberta neatly put it. There is also Richard Painter, an obscure, former low-level Bush-era White House attorney who has rebranded himself as a top “ex-Bush ethics lawyer,” willing to opine at any time on matters for which he appears to be totally unqualified to comment. Do not forget Republican strategist John Weaver, who appears on cable television from time to time to assist Democrats and their allies in the news media in pushing anti-GOP narratives, including the conspiracy theory that alleges Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp stole the 2018 gubernatorial election from Stacey Abrams.
An entire cottage industry of political commentary has cropped up around Republican “insiders” whose sole selling point is that they will parrot what the liberal media already say about the Republican Party.
