Op-ed: Republicans want voters afraid of transgender people. They should fear voters instead

Doesn’t it seem like every election cycle since Donald Trump came down that God-awful escalator 11 years ago, we’ve been told it’s the most consequential of our lifetimes? The phrase has been used so often it barely registers.But with less than a week until the 2026 midterm election, and given all we’ve seen since Trump assumed the presidency, especially for the second time, it’s truer than ever.The Republican Party’s current legislative record is thinner than a razor. This has been one of Congress’s most unproductive and compliant sessions in modern history. Passing little of substantive value, congressional leaders have instead focused on pledging fealty to a president preoccupied with luxury jets, gold appliqués, and a monstrous arch.Poll after poll shows Americans are most concerned about high prices, corruption, and threats to democracy. Yet Republicans have absolutely nothing to show for themselves on these issues. So what do they do? As usual, they resort to fearmongering and scorning marginalized groups.Several leading Democrats have told me something in recent months that has stuck: Americans don’t warm to cruelty, and this year, the GOP’s cruelty has been off the charts.So, if the midterms turn out as pundits and polls expect, with a blue wave or tsunami for Democrats, will the GOP finally stop targeting vulnerable populations?I’ll answer that right now. I don’t think so. It’s in their DNA. However, they’d be wise to consider how hard they push, particularly this year.Start in Ohio, where the Senate Leadership Fund has spent an eye-popping $93 million trying to rescue Sen. Jon Husted from Sherrod Brown. Much of it has gone into ads accusing Brown of supporting sex changes for minors.Yes, that’s the big issue Husted wants Ohioans to worry about. One ad features a woman who, local reporting found, isn’t from Ohio and had her surgery as an adult. If you looked up “desperate” in the dictionary, this ad would be the definition