It isn’t 2021 yet and already wishy-washy Republicans are worried about politics
With the Christmas holiday in the rearview mirror, the nation’s attention -- at least in the political sense -- now shifts to the impending Electoral College vote count in Congress next week. Everyone knows the individual states’ electors gathered two weeks ago in their various capitals and Democrat Joe Biden was elected president, and his trusty sidekick/next-in-line Kamala Harris was selected for vice president.
All well and good. President Donald Trump’s election objections continue, with the establishment media predictably asserting the protests are completely off-base, not supported by any evidence and doomed to fail. It’s curious how some biased folks in our day and age ignore hundreds of affidavits, video evidence, testimony from software experts and others intimately familiar with how elections work -- but heck, if they went all-in on the concept of Russian collusion in the 2016 vote, they can talk themselves into believing anything!
Even stranger is the reaction of the GOP establishment, which is working furiously to squelch any possibility of a bicameral congressional challenge to the state electors. In their all-politics-all-the-time mindset, everything’s potentially damaging to the worrywarts. Alexander Bolton wrote at The Hill, “Senate Republicans say Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will reach out to Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) in an attempt to avoid a messy floor fight next month over finalizing the results of the Electoral College vote.
“Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said GOP leaders will tell Tuberville that voting to suspend the tally of the Electoral College vote next month will be a futile — and politically damaging — move…
“McConnell warned Senate Republican colleagues during a Dec. 15 conference call that objecting to counting certain states’ electoral votes on Jan. 6 would be a political mistake. He said it would be politically damaging to Republican senators up for reelection to cast votes on such a divisive topic, according to senators who participated in the discussion.”
It’s funny how some Democrats and the media have nicknamed McConnell “The murder turtle”, because there’s not much intimidating, frightening or scary about the 78-year-old, 5-foot 9-inch soft-spoken Kentucky senator. Sure, McConnell has proven sufficiently adept at performing some of the duties of his office -- such as steering through the confirmations of three liberty-protecting originalist Supreme Court justices and hundreds of conservative lower federal court nominees -- but when it comes to the balance of his responsibilities, the bespectacled Republican leader invariably crawls back into his shell and protects the backside of the ruling elites.
Time and again McConnell’s had the opportunity to use his position to fight for various conservative causes and he’s shrunk from the duty, always arguing that the party needed more power and numbers to accomplish the goal. If a losing sports team’s disappointed fans say “Wait ‘til next year,” well, McConnell and crew always swear they’ll get things done when the next Congress arrives.
As Majority Leader with a thorough grasp of senate procedure and rules, McConnell understands what he can and can’t do, which essentially amounts to setting the calendar and sitting on or advancing legislation. With a fully uncooperative opponent -- Sen. “Chucky” Schumer and his less-than-merry band of liberal ideologues, opportunists and fame-seekers -- there isn’t much the senate can accomplish without the Leader’s say-so.
What could possibly be politically damaging about having a Republican senator join with Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks to contest certain states’ electors? In Tommy Tuberville’s particular instance, he was just elected last month to his seat and hasn’t even taken office yet. I haven’t seen it pointed out in the media -- big shock -- but Tuberville’s seat is the one that Judge Roy Moore would’ve won three years ago if McConnell and the DC ruling elites hadn’t been so pigheaded and obstinate about supporting him. Instead, they sat on their hands and allowed Democrat Doug Jones to steal the seat by a point-and-a-half in ruby red Alabama.
Despite insisting that he was “moderate”, Jones has been a reliable liberal vote for Schumer. Alabamians rewarded the lying schlep with a 20.5 percent loss to Tuberville. Trump won the state by 25 points. Clearly there would be little sacrificed by Tuberville if he joins with Brooks to object to the electors. McConnell, Thune and Roy Blunt are worried about nothing, as usual.
Moore certainly had his personal bugaboos that were exploited by his enemies -- which is basically everyone who wasn’t a grassroots leader and defender of traditional American culture -- but there’s no question he would’ve joined with other boat rocking conservative senators to advance the cause of limited government. The outsider’s bid was cut down by the snobby establishment because he’d dared to run against their anointed Jeff Sessions successor in the primary -- and won.
An interesting side note -- Mo Brooks ran in that 2017 primary as well and was backed by many, many conservatives who appreciated the legislator’s unimpeachable conservative bona fides, but it was thought that Moore would do more to stand out and be a thorn in Democrats’ eyes. The rest is history and it doesn’t accomplish much to rehash about an establishment failure that happened three years ago.
Donald Trump has changed the GOP and most Republicans acknowledge it. In case McConnell needs a reminder, the party did remarkably well in this year’s down-ballot races despite the apparent loss at the top of the ticket. “Irregularities” is too kind a word for what took place on the evening of November 3rd and the days after it, where Democrats in the states in question kept counting and counting and counting until their guy won!
Having senate Republicans join Brooks and a healthy contingent of House conservatives in objecting to the Electoral College vote is a no-brainer, actually. What would happen? It would suspend the joint session and force each chamber to separately debate and vote on the issue. So, the collective group of politicians on both sides would engage in verbal warfare for a few hours and they’d have to sign on to a neatly prepared document that records their yay or nay preferences.
Is that damaging politically? Didn’t these same people do this a year ago when Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat House majority (with only three of their number voting no or “present”) voted to impeach President Trump over a phone call? Didn’t the Democrat members of the senate -- including Doug Jones -- then unite to try and kick Trump out of office? The only Republican weenie in either chamber that went along with them was Mitt Romney. What a loser!
How did congressional Republicans suffer politically for voting to save Trump? McConnell himself overwhelmingly won his reelection race against a well-funded Democrat challenger this year. Maine senator Susan Collins voted no on both impeachment articles and still won reelection in perhaps the toughest place in America for a Republican to win. The party did lose a seat (and the Georgia runoff elections are still pending, but will be over by January 6), but both of the incumbents (Colorado and Arizona) who lost weren’t expected to beat well recognized Democrats.
Again, what is there to lose? American voters have short memories. The actions Republicans take next week on January 6 will not be remembered by vengeful ballot-casters in November, 2022. They’ll be much more preoccupied with how the new Democrat administration handles the pandemic, the economy and the delicate political balance.
Cries of “He voted to challenge the electors” won’t come up at all. This is really about nothing. Let’s all hope Tommy Tuberville takes a page out of Roy Moore’s boat-rocking book and objects to the electors. Let ‘em put themselves on the record. Do something we can be proud of for a change.
President Donald Trump teaches Republicans to fight -- will they listen?
It goes without saying, but President Trump has been encouraging all Republicans to fight for his presidency. Yet there seem to be so few willing to do so, at least in an official capacity. The media perpetuates the notion that the Trump campaign’s legal challenges have been rejected at every level, but they really haven’t even been heard.
Clearly what the establishment wants is for Trump to pipe down, put his proverbial tail between his legs and slunk off into the sunset like a defeated dog who lost a scrap with the pooch next door. So what if the Trump dog was muzzled and they tied his front legs together -- a loss is a loss!
Dominance and power is what this is all about. If Trump was taken out by the system -- no matter how illegitimately -- then the party’s ruling authority reverts to Republican congressional leaders and any other members who supposedly retain the reputation and influence to stand out. Trump can Tweet and kvetch all he wants about Biden doing this or that and the lack of urgency by Republican office holders, but come January 20, he can’t do anything but make them look bad.
Judging by the sheer number of Trump signs and flags I’m still seeing -- and Fox News’s pathetic ratings -- there is plenty of fight left in the grassroots. Newt Gingrich wrote last week that he wouldn’t accept a Joe Biden presidency, and his sentiments aren’t much different than the average Joe’s (not Joe Biden!). Politically speaking, there’s nothing to lose by extending the process to its legitimate full length.
As Trump said to the black community in 2016 -- “What have you got to lose?” The upside is obvious -- conservatives will stay motivated and engaged and might even gain a smidgen more respect for the establishment leadership. The vocal naysayers aren’t exactly popular. No 2024 hopeful would dare come out against Trump on this one.
This is about the next round of Republican candidates. The ones who put their names on the line now will receive the enduring appreciation of those who worked, contributed and fought like crazy to get Trump reelected last month. We’re the ones who had the conversations with friends and family who had doubts about the current administration. We attended the rallies, drove in the parades, sent in the checks and felt the loss of something that was important to us. The hurt refuses to go away. With each passing day, it seems, there’s another report of fraud that gets dropped to the media’s cutting room floor like an untried vaccine for a worldwide China virus plague.
What has the establishment lost? The ability to blame their incompetence on Trump. With Joe Biden in the White House, the media will search for other scapegoats to target their negative energy. Just like the Democrats, they’ll talk about “unity” and “cooperation” and “bipartisanship” while Nancy Pelosi sticks a knife in our backs and Chucky Schumer labels us heartless and uncaring for opposing blanket amnesty for illegal aliens. That’s assuming the GOP establishment doesn’t capitulate under the political pressure and give the liberals everything they demand.
But the wishy-washy set will sure feel great about convincing Republicans to go along with the Electoral College elector slate, won’t they?
Thanks to Trump, conservative voters are more anxious than ever to politically fight for their country. If there’s rancor and division, it’s coming from the “progressive” caucus. “Unity” will never exist until one side relents. Let’s make sure it isn’t us who throws in the towel.
If they’re mad at Trump, he must be doing something right!
With 2020 drawing to a close, one of many fascinating aspects of this horrid year was watching the back-and-forth political barking match between President Trump and various governors (mostly of blue states) over “relief”. Now that another “stimulus” bill seems to be on the way, the whiners and complainers are griping that it ain’t enough for them. Pathetic.
Reid Wilson reported at The Hill, “Governors facing the prospect of hundreds of thousands of their constituents losing out on badly needed relief during the coronavirus pandemic grew increasingly frustrated as Congress dragged its feet on a legislative package, and many became downright apoplectic after President Trump this week blew up delicate negotiations by saying he was not happy with a bill in which he previously paid little interest.
“In interviews Wednesday and Thursday, top advisers to both Democratic and Republican governors said that anger at the lack of a coordinated federal response to combat the pandemic had reached a boiling point during negotiations over a relief package…
“’Congress just continues to destroy any respect it may have been clinging to post-election,’ said a top adviser to another Republican governor. ‘POTUS will be gone in 27 days.’”
Boo hoo. Do these people expect Joe Biden to be their deliverance? If they’ve lost tons of tax revenue this year it’s largely due to their disastrous lockdown policies that killed the taxpayers’ livelihoods. If the China virus still rages, then what good did their “safety measures” do?
The problem is Congress loaded the bill with hundreds of billions of pork dollars that doesn’t help people at all. If Americans have no faith in Congress, it’s because the elected leaders don’t simply send relief to the people who need it. Who’s to blame? Primarily the establishments of both parties.
As a side note, there are a number of liberal Republican governors (Vermont, Massachusetts, etc.) whose people are lumped in with the good ones. Take these quotes with a grain of salt.
Winning in politics isn’t really hard if you follow the lead of someone who knows how to do it. So-called congressional Republican “leaders” understand plenty about losing; it’s the winning part that they struggle with. President Donald Trump’s instincts are usually correct, and here’s thinking they’re right on again by continuing to challenge the election results.
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