Mitch McConnell Is the Stuff of Democrats’ Nightmares
If he wasn’t already, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will soon be a permanent fixture in the nightmares of Democrats.
After President Trump took office, McConnell went from being a useless GOP leader who is only concerned that everyone at the Capitol Hill Club is having a polite time into Super Republican. Should this all go away in November, never let it be said that Cocaine Mitch didn’t make the most of his time as majority leader.
McConnell is well-positioned to have his majority place a third conservative justice on the Supreme Court in three years. If successful, it will be the crowning achievement of the reshaping of the American judiciary that he and President Trump have been busy with almost from the moment Trump was sworn in.
Early Tuesday morning, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham — another Republican who’s undergone a stunning transformation — said that the majority already has the votes to confirm Trump’s nominee.
We won’t even know who President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court will be until late this week, but we know now for (almost) certain that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has the votes to confirm the pick to the court.
The last 72 hours have made that much clear. On Tuesday morning, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney announced that he supports a vote on Trump’s nominee. “I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee,” he said in a statement. “If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications.”
After Romney’s impeachment betrayal, Democrats were no doubt hoping — assuming even — that he would once again stab his own party in the back.
To his credit, Romney seems to have remembered that he wants to be a Republican senator even if Donald Trump isn’t the president and it’s probably time for him to start playing ball with the home team. He did leave himself some wiggle room with the “based on their qualifications” line, and Democrats are probably desperately clinging to that right now. He’s probably a safe “Yes” on either Amy Coney Barrett or Barbara Lagoa, however.
Cillizza explains in his article that McConnell could still probably afford to lose Romney and have the votes, however. He also gives McConnell credit for being good at what he does:
Like him or hate him, you have to hand it to McConnell. He has, again, proven that he commands the almost total loyalty of his GOP conference. As McConnell did with the contentious Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed by a 50-48 vote, he has demonstrated that when the pressure is on, he is able to line up votes like very few leaders before him.
Midterm elections may not be as sexy and popular as presidential elections, but they’re oh-so important. Both majority leaders in Congress got there via their parties’ victories in midterm elections.
McConnell and the Republicans have been able to hang onto the Senate for six years now but that’s in real danger this year.
For the moment, however, the power in the chamber that matters most right now belongs to the Republicans.
And there is nothing wrong with them using it.
Hey Democrats — Cocaine Mitch Is ‘Judging’ You
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PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear twice a week.
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