Following the Republican midterm elections disaster — yes, it was a total disaster; regardless of how much lipstick one chooses to put on the pig — it’s past time to make serious changes within the Grand Old Party.

All of the excuses, on all sides, including the “Stop the Steal” shtick, will no longer suffice.

BREAKING: The pig died. Knock off the excuses and enough with the lipstick already. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is one prominent Republican lawmaker who agrees. Following the Saturday night projection that the GOP wouldn’t regain control of the Upper Chamber after Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-Nev.) narrow win over Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, Hawley pronounced the party dead:

The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new.

Hawley was right. The question is whether his solution is right, partially right, or not all.

The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 13, 2022

As reported by Breitbart, Hawley suggested his support for change within the party and that he would not support Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for Senate GOP leadership in the next Congress.

I don’t imagine I will, I’m not sure if any other senator will run or not. Nobody’s indicated they would. But my view is that we need new leadership in that position.

Hawley listed several of McConnell’s decisions over the last two years with which he disagreed, including funding for Ukraine, Democrat infrastructure and public safety bills, and GOP campaign spending in Arizona and New Hampshire, adding this:

I did not agree with the idea that you go out there and badmouth our own candidates in the middle of an election.

More “badmouthing our own candidates” in a bit.

In response to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and other Republican colleagues calling for the GOP Senate leadership vote to be delayed until after the Dec. 6  Georgia runoff results are determined — now a moot point after Castro Masto’s win in Nevada, which enabled the Democrats to retain control of the Senate, with Kamala Harris as tie-breaker if necessary — Hawley tweeted:

Exactly right. I don’t know why Senate GOP would hold a leadership vote for the next Congress before this election is finished. We have a runoff in #GASenate — are they saying that doesn’t matter? Don’t disenfranchise @HerschelWalker.

Not to put words in Hawley’s mouth but he appears to primarily blame McConnell for the midterm disaster.

On the other hand, while Donald Trump continues to enjoy unbreakable support among MAGA Republicans, a growing number of Republicans believe it’s time for the GOP to move beyond Trump for several reasons, not the least of which remain his baggage; self-created or otherwise, the everpresent drama, and now Trump’s increasingly bitter and self-aggrandizing attacks against other Republicans.

Need a couple of high-profile examples? “Ron DeSanctimonous” and “Young Kin” — Trump’s bizarre racist slur against Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Younkin, last Thursday:

Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me. I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him — or he couldn’t have come close to winning. But he knows that, and admits it. […]

As for DeSantis, Trump’s continuing attacks against the popular Florida governor have only intensified in the aftermath of the popular governor’s destruction of Democrat challenger Charlie Crist in elections that saw multiple Trump-backed candidates go down in flames.

And as reported by my colleague Jeff Charles on midterm elections eve, an ABC News/Ipsos survey found that 72 percent of Republicans now believe DeSantis should have a great or good deal of influence over the future of the party, while roughly 64 percent said the same about Trump.

Say what you will, but it’s astonishing that Trump appears incapable of seeing how he just might be hastening his own demise — completely via unforced errors. “3D chess”? Please. The GOP’s internecine war is real as hell, and if we’ve seen anything over the last seven years, it’s when Donald Trump is challenged or feels threatened, all bets are off on how he’ll lash out and at whom.

McConnell, Trump, or Both?

While Trump loyalists not only place most of the blame on McConnell for the red wave that wasn’t, they also believe Trump gives the Republicans the best chance to recapture the White House in 2024. But as suggested by the poll I referenced and others, a growing number of Republican voters believe it’s time to leave Trump in the past and focus solely on the disastrous Biden presidency and the future of the party and America as a whole.

So, which is right? Both. And neither. The question isn’t mutually exclusive and it never was — regardless of members of both factions continually telling us they and they alone are right.

The Bottom Line

While Josh Hawley and like-minded Republicans are correct in their belief that it’s past time for McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to be booted from their GOP leadership position, those who believe that Trump doesn’t give the Republicans the best chance of winning the White House in 2024 are also correct. To say otherwise is a fool’s game for the Republican Party and 2024.

2024 will be the most critical and consequential presidential election in decades — let’s not screw it up.