Poor Bill Barr. The former attorney general is lauded by some when he says things with which they agree, yet blistered by the same people when he says things with which they do not. Incidentally, the same phenomenon happens to not-so-humble, constitutional conservative pundits like yours truly.

But, hey — it’s all about “objectivity,” right?

So, here we are, more than 16 months after the most inept president in history assumed the power of the Oval Office, my oh my, have things changed. Joe Biden on Day One went about purposely destroying America as we know it: from the Biden Oil Crisis to Bidenflation, the disasters have been plenty — each one, devastating — and the steady decline of the 79-year-old president’s mental acuity could not be more troubling.

With the safe bet that Democrats will get their a**es handed to them in the 2022 midterms all but in the bank, attention increasingly turns to 2024 and the presidential election. Much is at stake — there always is in presidential elections — but while the Democrats have their own problems, pretending the Republicans do not would be a fool’s game.

Buckle your seatbelts, RedStaters — because here we go.

While Trump loyalists continue to claim Donald will once again “fix” all that ails America — including the disasters created by what will have been four years of Democrat authoritarian rule — there are those on the “R” side who believe Trump’s time has come and gone. While he was “the right guy in the right place at the right time in 2016,” they say, a 2024 Trump candidacy would prove fatal for the Republicans.

One of those Republicans is Bill Barr. During a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, Barr went bottom-line:

“I’m all for restoring America. That’s what I’m all about, is restoring the greatness of this country. And the principle threat is this progressive agenda. The only way to do that is not to speak about some other election [relitigate 2020] and continue this trench warfare but instead, a breakthrough election that will create and usher in an era just like Reagan did. [Run against the miseries created by Biden and look out the windshield — not the rearview mirror.]

Barr was cautious not to “take a shot at” Trump — which still, of course, will lead to Trump going full-metal character assassination on his former AG, as has been the case with everyone else who has dared to criticize the former president — let alone, disagree with him:

“I don’t necessarily want to take a shot at Trump, said Barr, but Trump is not that man.” Barr also pointed out that the former president would be a 78-year-old lame duck on Inauguration Day, 2025.

He does not have the capacity to win the kind of transformative election. He may have been, historically, a necessary figure, and I give him all credit for bringing to a screeching halt the progressive march that occurred under the Obama administration and threatened the country going forward with Hillary Clinton.

While crediting Trump for his “willingness to fight” in 2016, and saying Trump’s “over-the-top approach was necessary to break through the media,” Barr believes the Republican Party must focus on a broad-based victory, if it is to recapture the White House in 2024.

However, if you believe in the MAGA agenda, we’ve already punched the other guy in the nose. Now, how do we actually go about methodically restoring the United States? The first thing Republicans need to do is win a decisive, broad victory. And you don’t do that by starting a civil war in the party and calling everyone who doesn’t believe that the election was stolen a RINO.

Here we go, as I suggested earlier. While I will neither revisit Trump’s political past nor the true definition of “RINO,” I will say — categorically — that an internecine war within the Republican Party is the last thing the GOP needs in 2024. The time for “getting even” is past — not that it was ever beneficial to true conservatism in the first place.

Finally, Barr, like many Republicans, believes Trump could have won in 2020 if he had made “a minor adjustment to his behavior.”

“To this day,” Barr told the Examiner, “I truly wish he had.”

As for this pundit, considering the damage done to Trump in 2016 by the “Never-Trumpers” within the Republican Party, I do wonder if the “Always-Trumpers” will return “the favor” in 2024.

The bottom line:

The 2024 election will not be about Donald Trump. It will not be about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or any other Democrat. It will be about the direction of once-strong, now weakened, America. It will be about stark differences between those who desperately want to continue on the destructive socialist path of the radical left, including Biden’s handlers, and hopefully, true conservatives who desperately want to restore freedom, fairness, and liberty to our land.

Neither “getting even” nor relitigating 2020 should be on the 2024 agenda. If they are, it will be to the detriment to conservatism and the future of this country.

Ah, politics. Let the battle be joined.

Related on RedState:

Teflon Don: Is a Trump Return to the White House in 2024 Inevitable?

If the Trump-Morgan Interview Is a Harbinger of Things to Come in 2024, I Have Some Concerns

Did Donald Trump Unveil His 2024 Slogan at Fri. Night’s Kid Rock Concert?